Four days had passed since Lisa joined Latif's pride. For Lisa, those four days were slow and quiet as she got to know more about her fellow pride members and slowly she was becoming attached to them and becoming good friends.
But more importantly you are all probably wondering what was going on with her parents and brother. And if you are thinking that they were worried sick then you are definitely right about that. The first afternoon when Lisa did not return, Marge was the first to show some concern while Homer assured her that she probably lost track of time that she would be home later in the day. Marge reluctantly agreed with Homer and went with Bart for a nice dinner. She was still not back when they returned to the hotel, making Marge a little frantic as she called for her on the porch. It was a sleepless night as Marge waited for Lisa to return and in the morning, Marge went to the lobby to fill out a missing child form.
For four days they had the police scour the city looking for Lisa until it was too dark to search any more and poor Marge lay on the bed every night crying her eyes out and wishing that Lisa would return home.
By the fourth day the police began to wonder if she had gone out onto the savanna to explore and because of that was most likely eaten by a lion, this caused Marge to go into hysterics before Homer finally took matters into his own hands and decided to go out there and look for her with Bart. Marge came too so in case Lisa showed herself she would be the first to hug her and then scold her for making her worry so much about her.
As they looked around for Lisa, Bart was the first to call out to her with a worried voice.
"Lisa please come back, if you don't come back then who can I harass until Maggie is older," he cried.
"Lisa stop hugging the trees and come home," said Homer trying to sound as brave as he could.
Marge only looked worriedly around hoping to see her bright sunny hair peek out among the grasses. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Lisa jump out of a tree but when she adjusted her eyes she noticed that it was only a monkey but for some strange reason it was heading their way.
"Homer, Bart, I think you need to stop calling for her," said Marge nervously.
"Why do you see her?" asked Homer.
"No but I think you are upsetting the wildlife," said Marge as she pointed at the monkey who was slowly making its way toward them with caution.
"Oh you know monkeys, its probably only wondering if we have a peanut," said Homer as he rummaged through his pockets.
"Don't provoke it Homer, its not like the monkey's you see in zoos, this one might injure us,' said Marge as she hid behind Homer worried that it would come and claw her eyes out.
"Oh Marge you worry too much, look at its cute little face and how hairy it is, you know it kind of looks like your sisters," said Homer.
"Homer!" said Marge angrily.
"Yeah Homer show some respect for your family," said the monkey.
Homer and Marge gasped and stood still for a moment until Homer thought he caught on. "Alright Bart get out from behind that monkey," he said.
"Dad, I'm right here," said Bart standing next to them.
Homer stood there dumbfounded, was this just a hallucination from the sleepless nights and crying their eyes out or was this the real deal? After a long awkward silence, Bart moved forward a little bit looking closely at the baboon and wonder if there were any wires hanging off her.
"In case you are wondering, I am not a human dressed in a monkey suit," said the baboon.
Bart backed away and looked at his parents who weren't sure what to think of this.
"If you are not in a monkey suit then you shouldn't be talking," said Marge nervously.
"You say I shouldn't but that's only because you have never heard a monkey talk, and you have never heard a monkey talk because you are too busy listening to hear yourself talk," said the monkey.
"Uhhhhhh……okay then," said Homer.
"Hmmm I see what Lisa meant by a wet match in a dark cave," said the monkey as she rubbed her chin.
"Wait, you know where Lisa is?" asked Marge.
"Of course that is why I came to you and don't worry, she is safe," said the monkey.
"Where is she?" asked Marge excitedly.
"First off let me introduce myself as Ramla, I am a shaman of this land and the one who caused Lisa's disappearance but that's only because she has important business to take care of," said Ramla.
"What kind of business?" asked Bart.
Ramla looked at Bart who seemed very curious yet she sensed there would be much persuading in him, same went for Homer who would most likely take forever to understand anything that was going on. Marge would probably be the easiest to explain to but her worry for Lisa would make it hard for her to take the time to listen since she only wanted to see her daughter again.
"I think this might take a while to explain and I think its best you come with me to my tree, its shadier there any way," said Ramla as she motioned for the family to follow her.
The three stood there for a moment, unsure of what to make of this strange predicament until Bart was the one who actually made the move to follow her, his curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to know more. Homer and Marge only looked at each other before following Bart toward the tree.
When they reached the tree Ramla invited them up and of course Bart quickly climbed up without a problem, climbing as if he was part of Ramla's family and giving the sly smile he always gave when he accomplished something he liked. Marge took a while to get up to the top but it was Homer who had the most trouble. He tried to grab the nearest branch and then tried to lift himself up but instead he ended up dangling for a moment before Bart noticed this.
"Dad, lift your weight up when you climb the branch," said Bart.
"That's easy for you to say, you are younger than I am," said Homer as he tried again this time succeeding in getting up the branch though it took some hard lifting and a long wait.
Homer was halfway up the tree too when he tried grabbing a branch that looked safe enough for him to grab and swing toward the trunks roomy space where Bart, Ramla, and Marge were waiting. Instead though the branch broke from his weight and Homer soon found himself falling down the tree and landing hard on his rump on top of a root.
"Oh that's gonna hurt in the morning," whimpered Homer.
Ramla rolled her eyes and quickly climbed down. "You want me to help you up?" she asked.
"Once was enough thanks, can I just stay down here?" asked Homer as he rubbed his rump.
"I suppose, come back down here Bart, Marge," said Ramla as she waved at the other two.
Bart quickly climbed back down and Marge was not too far behind.
"You okay Homey?" asked Marge.
Homer only nodded as he turned to Ramla who gave them a quick nod before continuing.
"Now this is probably going to sound very strange to you, but your daughter is involved in a prophecy, one that involves her helping lions, now I know this sounds very strange and believe me when I first heard about it I thought it was strange joke the shamans of old played on me but this is the honest to goodness truth," began Ramla.
"So my daughter is with lions, won't they try to injure her, how do they know not to hurt her?" asked Marge acting like the typical mother.
"Well I have been with this pride for many years, I have informed the leader about this so he knows all about it and knows she is important to them and has promised to keep her safe, besides she is not human for the time being but an actual lion," said Ramla.
"Woah, seriously? That is so cool," said Bart.
"Bart! Will she be able to return to her former self?" asked Marge.
"Of course, I have actually done it on myself a number of times, that's how the necklace came into possession from that merchant because I gave it to him in human form. And I know that since you all are very worried about her, I know that perhaps you would not mind joining her until the prophecy is fulfilled," said Ramla.
"What kind of prophecy is this any way?" asked Marge.
Since you all have heard about this prophecy then I don't need to have Ramla explain it to you again. But Ramla did explain it to Marge, Bart, and Homer who were all perplexed and quite confused. But Ramla was patient and even though it did take her an hour to explain what was going on she kept her cool until all three understood.
"So would you like to join your daughter, or would you rather spend time in the hotel and wait for her to come home?" asked Ramla once her explaining was finished.
Marge and Homer looked at each other while Bart tried to get their attention by nodding excitedly, he wanted to become a lion and see what it was like maybe even learn how to hunt.
"We will at least know she is safe and not worry about her night and day," said Homer.
"But we will still any way since that Dajan character might show up any time," said Marge.
"If we were there we could help protect her," said Homer.
"Yeah and I can go to the bathroom wherever I want and scratch wherever I want to too," said Bart.
Homer and Marge stared at Bart for a moment before turning to Ramla who was waiting as patiently as she could to know the verdict.
"Why not, I don't think we had any more plans do to any thing before we left any way," said Marge.
"Yesssssssss," said Bart happily.
"Alright then, now please hold still as I transform you into your new selves," said Ramla.
Homer, Marge, and Bart all stood perfectly still as Ramla began to chant the words to turn them all into a lion while she waved her stick back and forth. The three then disappeared for a moment into a cloud of dust but once the dust cleared, Ramla could clearly see that what she had done worked and the trio were now lions.
Homer sat there on his rump looking at what used to be his hands but were now paws, before he could respond, claws suddenly unsheathed and Homer looked at them in surprise.
"Woah, I can't wait to try these babies out," said Homer.
"And I have sharp teeth, look Dad I can bite you," said Bart who was about to run over and bite Homer in the rump but Marge only stopped him.
Ramla laughed as she looked at the three. Homer who was bald as a human now had a mane, it wasn't full though, midway on his head was where the mane stopped at and then went all the way down to the base of his neck, it was a dark brown color and actually made him look quite healthy. His stomach wasn't too big but it still made him look a little overweight for a lion.
Marge's hair had actually shrunk down and was now just a wide, bluish gray curly stripe going from her forehead to the middle of her shoulder blades. She looked like the perfect lion though, sleek and shiny, it was definitely enough for Homer to be more in love with her.
Bart like Lisa was no longer a ten year old boy but a ten month old lion cub with a small mane coming in; his trademark spiky hair now looked like a Mohawk that started at the top of his head to the base of his shoulder blades. He also had a small tuft growing out in the front of his chest which he showed off proudly.
"Looks like my son can attract some ladies," said Homer.
Bart only looked at him in disgust.
"Now that we are lions I can't wait to see Lisa," said Marge.
"Me either, now let's go find her," said Homer.
Right after Homer said that, all three moved forward but they didn't go far before they landed flat on their faces forgetting that they had now walk on all fours.
"Whoops, looks like I have some training to do with you," said Ramla.
"Did you see the look on her face when Pandu pushed her in," laughed Khalil as he and Lisa were heading back to the pride.
"Yeah I didn't know she could scream that loud," said Lisa a little nervously.
The four cubs had been playing together in a nearby waterhole when Kanzi showed up. She had started making rude remarks to Lisa who had actually thought for a while that Kanzi was lightening up to her, that didn't seem like the case when she showed up. So Pandu thought it would be fun to push her into the waterhole. Every one of them ran off before Kanzi was barely out of the water, they did not want to face her wraith and the other lions knew that she was not on good terms with Lisa so most of them would back Lisa up.
"I could have sworn though that she was acting kind to me earlier today," said Lisa.
"Yeah but that's Kanzi for you, always changing her mind, oh well one of these days she'll lighten up," said Khalil.
Lisa only nodded nervously as she made her way back to the pride who were now resting lazily on the rocks after a long day in the sun. Lisa, Khalil, Pandu, and Saburi all sat down in the shade thinking about something to do before the sun went down.
Before they could even think, Kanzi showed up dripping wet and quite grumpy. "You're lucky the pride is on your side because if they weren't I would make sure you were kicked out so fast and I would laugh at you," said Kanzi.
"Oh Kanzi lighten up and join us, try to be friends with Lisa for just a little bit I bet she might know some fun games," said Saburi as he looked over at Lisa.
"Whatever," said Kanzi rolling her eyes as she sat down and joined them.
The cubs all stared at Lisa who had to come up with a quick game and fast, one that did not involve human only games.
"How about I Spy?" asked Lisa.
"What game is that?" asked Khalil curiously.
"Well it's where you spot an object say this rock right here but you can't tell any one what it is. You just say I spy something that is grey in color and everyone looks around to figure out what you spy," said Lisa.
"Oh that looks like fun, we should do that," said Saburi.
"Why not, it does sound different," said Kanzi who did sound a little excited.
"And since you were the one who started it, you should go ahead Lisa," said Khalil.
Lisa gave a quick smile before looking around and then spotting a lonely green bird in a tree. "I spy something green," said Lisa.
"The grass?" asked Pandu. Lisa shook her head.
"That leaf?" asked Kanzi. Lisa shook her head again.
"Uh that rock with some moss on it?" asked Saburi. Lisa shook her head again.
"Oh wait I think I know, how about that green bird up there?" asked Pandu after hearing the bird chirp.
"Yeah that's it, now it's your turn," said Lisa.
Pandu looked around and was just about to say that he could spy a purple flower in the distance when a lion walked on top of it.
"Awww, and I was going to describe that pretty flower too," said Pandu.
Lisa looked at where Pandu was looking and saw that the lion was not any other lion but a familiar face even that of a lion, her father.
"Dad!" she yelled out happily and ran toward him. Bart and Marge were not too far behind and both were running toward her and laughing. Lisa pounced on her father and gave him the biggest hug she could around his newly created mane.
"Lisa you scared us half to death," he said.
"I know, I'm sorry I should have never done what I did," said Lisa as she climbed off Homer and hugged Marge who was actually looking at her sternly.
"Darn right you shouldn't have, we haven't slept since you left," said Marge sternly.
"Yeah I was thinking too much about you when TV shows were on," said Bart.
Lisa only smiled and hugged her big brother as the pride she had been staying in came over to investigate.
"I see you have found your daughter," said Latif with a smile.
"I helped them mostly," said Ramla who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Thank you Ramla," said Lisa.
Ramla only smiled before she turned to Homer, Marge, and Latif who all knew they needed to have a quick chat about the coming days ahead. Lisa and Bart on the other hand did not notice this; instead Lisa had turned to her friends and introduced them to Bart.
"Guys this is my brother Bart, Bart this is Pandu, Khalil, Saburi, and Kanzi," said Lisa.
Bart only nodded, for the first time he seemed a little uncertain being around lion cubs who he knew he would forget about later on and what made it worse was that he would forget their names in about five minutes.
"Geeze where do you guys come from any way, you have such crazy names," said Kanzi.
"Springfield," said Bart, he knew he was not supposed to say he was human but telling them he came from another place was probably alright.
"So is the field all springy or something?" asked Khalil.
"Only after it rains, all the worms come up and we stomp on them," said Bart.
The four looked at him curiously, he was different from his sister, yet he seemed to have that fun side to him that they liked. They all knew that he would warm up eventually and sooner or later he would be playing tag through the long grasses and swimming in the waterhole.
Night had fallen in the cliffs far from the pride, Dajan walked back and forth in front of his new jackal minions, all thirty of them. They all looked scrawny but each one had muscle strong enough to keep a lion at bay for a few minutes while another jackal seized Lisa.
"Now you all know that if the plan works perfectly, you are all entitled to great health care while I rule the lion world," said Dajan in his cold voice.
"And if we fail sire?" asked Samir.
"Failure is not an option and if you do displease me then you will all become vulture fodder, do I make myself clear?" he asked.
Some of the jackals gulped while others only nodded nervously, they were not expecting him to be so cold hearted.
"Good now I want you all to be back here in the afternoon before the full moon, we will get ready for the ambush," said Dajan.
And with that all the jackals save for Samir left the hidden cliffs for home. Samir stood by his leader as Dajan watched them all go, his long salt and pepper mane blowing in the wind.
"You are a good motivational speaker sir," said Samir.
"It's my job Samir though I do know a kiss ass when I hear one," said Dajan.
"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to be," said Samir.
"I'm sure you didn't," said Dajan who then disappeared behind some dark caves.
Kijani stopped talking as he looked down at the cubs, all five were lying down, their eyes opening and closing as they tried to listen to the story. Kali even started yawning.
"It looks like I will have to finish this tomorrow," he said.
"But I want to hear more," said Asha as she gave a big yawn.
"Yeah I know the next part is getting good," said Jelani.
All five of them gave Kijani the cute puppy dog eyes while at the same time began to yawn, making the storyteller himself start to yawn. They were definitely up later than usual and he was beginning to feel drowsy himself.
"But I am tired and I cannot tell the stories right when I am tired, now would you like to hear the correct story or only part of it?" asked Kijani.
The cubs looked at each other knowing that a wide awake Kijani was the best thing to hear.
"We'll wait until tomorrow," Layla said a little distraught but happy to know that there would be more stories to come.
"Very good, now get some sleep we will continue this later tomorrow afternoon," said Kijani.
The cubs then all slumped down close together, sharing their warmth, even Layla stayed with them. She knew her father would not mind her staying with the lion cubs for the night, she had even hinted the idea to him earlier. Kijani watched them sleep for a moment before letting out a big yawn and walked to a spot in the corner he liked to sleep in. Tomorrow he would continue it, and tomorrow he hoped to make it a grand ending for them.
A/N: Yeah sorry for the slowness of this chapter, but don't worry there will be some nice action in the next chapter which ends with a cliffhanger, yay. You probably won't have to wait forever for it either, I've already started on it and when I start on action chapters I have a hard time stopping, so watch out for it very soon. So any way please review and I will see you all soon.