Episode 15: Furry Friends

Having her back turned to her students, Mrs. Cherry lifted up her hand containing a marker and planted it onto the board in front of her. Slightly narrowing her eyes she began moving her hand to the right and came to a stop before placing her hand back onto the left side. Back and forth, back and forth she moved the marker across the board, locking her eyes right onto what she was putting down with small hums exiting her mouth.

As she was writing the classroom fell into silence. Each student quietly planted their eyes onto their teacher while remaining in their desks, holding onto their pencils and waiting for today's lesson to commence.

Kameron slowly increased his grip onto his pencil the more he looked at what Mrs. Cherry was putting down. His eyes started to twitch and his vision started to blur by the second, but just when the blur began increasing he lightly shook his head, making his vision return to normal.

Lars planted his face onto his left hand while rotating his pencil in his right. His eyes lightly narrowed at Mrs. Cherry and the board. No more than a few seconds passed when her turned his attention onto the rest of the class. Most of them held lifeless expressions, most had their eyes shut, and some...some just placed their heads right onto their desks. Putting his attention onto Kameron, there was no hiding the bags under his eyes, yet he was managing to keep himself awake. Lars' lips smirked at his best friend, yet his lips fell when he turned back to the board.

Sadie lightly tapped the edge of her desk while keeping her attention onto today's lesson, yet...it didn't take long for her to shift her attention to the window on her right. The rays of the sun shined right through the glass, brightening up the classroom with only little room for shadowed corners. On the other side of the glass stood a large tree surrounded by a small amount of grass and concrete. From a different perspective anyone wouldn't be enthralled by it, but in the case of Sadie, just the look of it looked tempting to just...walk over to it and just lean against it. But...that opportunity would have to happen later, if given the chance.

Ronaldo placed both of his hands on each side of his desk with his direct attention placed right onto the board. His pencil laid bare on the right side of his desk. There was no need to hold the instrument that creates as of yet. The current objective was observation. Once it is complete, then may the instrument be held into the hand of one who is weak to hold such a sacred tool. For now, he is only to observe and patiently wait until the Goddess of Learning completes her task.

Halting her hand, Mrs. Cherry removed the marker away from the board and moved her eyes onto the cap next to the eraser. Grabbing it she placed it right onto the marker and placed it down before turning to her students. Putting her attention onto them she soon blinked at the expressions on their faces. Closing her eyes she raised up her hand toward the center of her glasses, pushing them back to her face. Reopening her eyes she removed her hand from her glasses and placed it into her other hand before moving to the side.

On the board Mrs. Cherry put down six questions:

1): 1 + (2X5)=

2): 2 - (3X4)=

3): 3 x (4X6)=

4): 4 / (5X7)=

5): (5+15) X (5 -18)=

6): 6X6 + 7X20 - 72/6=

"Okay. These are your first questions. Once all of you are finished the next set will be put up. Does anyone have any questions?" Mrs. Cherry asked.

The whole class' response went into silence as they all descended their attention onto the blank notebook paper laying in front of them.

"Alright then. You may-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The echoing scream entered right into the classroom, making nearly everyone jolt when it entered their ears. In no short than a flash the students and Mrs. Cherry all turned their attention to the door.

"Everyone, remain in your seats. I'll go see what's going on." Mrs. Cherry announced as she rushed over to the door and exited out of the room.

The scream and Mrs. Cherry leaving increased the atmosphere within the classroom, making the students gaze at each other and back to the door.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Another scream soon burst into the room, making everyone jolt up again. One scream was questionable, two meant something was way, way off. Without a word Kameron got up from his seat and stormed out of the classroom.

"Whoa, Kam!" Lars yelled as he got up from his seat and rushed right out the door.

Watching im leave, Sadie and Ronaldo quickly got out of their seats and rushed right out the door. Whatever was going on they needed to see it even if they get in trouble for it.

Rushing through the hallway, Kameron made a quick turn to the left and soon came to a complete stop. To his right was Mrs. Cherry and a female student, holding each other closely while on the ground. They both increased their hold on one another as their bodies started shaking rapidly alongside their eyes. Small whimpers exited their mouth the more they stared at the being in front of them.

To the left Kameron's pupils started to shrink at the very thing his teacher and female student were looking at. The creature stood on all fours and was...pink. It's mane was light pink with light pink fur at the end of it's tail. But not only that, there was a person right on top of the creature. The person was a tanned-skinned young boy with black curly hair and brown eyes. The young boy wore a pink shirt with a yellow star at it's center, light-blue shorts, and light-pink sneakers.

"Steven?" Kameron called out.

Hearing his name getting called out, Steven and the beast turned their heads over to Kameron with Lars, Sadie, and Ronaldo coming up right behind him. Upon seeing them Steven immediately got off of the creature and ran right toward Kameron with his arms out. Coming in close Steven wrapped his arms around Kameron's waist, placing his head right onto Kameron's stomach and lower chest. He slowly increased his hold onto Kameron and hummed right onto his stomach.

Although taken back by Steven's actions, Kameron raised up his hand and placed it right on top of the little goofball's head. Brushing his fingers through his curly hair his lips curved upwards slightly while looking at him. But when lifting his head up, Kameron locked his eyes onto the creature near his teacher and female student.

"Steven, what is that?" Kameron asked.

Hearing his voice, Steven removed himself from Kameron and turned his head to the creature before jogging over to him.

"Kameron. This is Lion. He's my animal friend." Steven replied.

Without a word Kameron quickly went over to Mrs. Cherry and the female student. Getting down on one knee he raised out his hand and placed it onto Mrs. Cherry's shoulder.

"Mrs. Cherry, it's okay. It's gonna be okay." Kameron said softly.

"T-T-There's...a-a-a-a-a l-l-l-lion...i-i-i-in the hallway. A-A-A-A-A p-p-p-pink l-l-l-lion in the hallway." Mrs. Cherry stuttered.

"I am so putting this on my blog." Ronaldo added as he pulled out his phone and started recording Lion.

"I...I have absolutely no way to response with what's happening here." Lars added.

"Ditto." Sadie added.

"What is going on here?"

A new voice was soon added into the area, making everyone turn their heads to it's direction. Standing at the edge of the hallway was a elderly man with short gray hair, gray eyes, and a short gray beard. The man wore a white collared shirt with a silver-blazer, silver dress-pants, a silver tie, and silver dress-shoes.

Upon seeing Lion the elderly man blinked his eyes before turning his attention onto Steven and then onto Kameron.

"Mr. Evans. Will you please explain what is happening here?" The elderly man asked with a ruffled voice.

Great... Not exactly how Kameron wanted his morning to turn out, but now that Principal Owens is involved it was time to make a quick call.

Outside of Dewey High Kameron and Steven stood near the entrance with Lion sitting next to them, moving his head around.

Steven lowered his head to the ground while tapping his index fingers together. His lips curved downward with small moans exiting his mouth. This was all his fault, he could tell based how the teacher and that girl reacted from seeing Lion. He just wanted to see Kameron again, but this wasn't exactly how he pictured their reunion would go.

"Kameron" Steven said, turning his head to him and gaining his attention. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Steven." Kameron replied. He then turned his eyes onto Lion. "More importantly, where did you even get a pink lion?"

"I found him in the desert during a mission." Steven said as he turned to Lion. "He then just popped at my house later on and after that we became best buds."

Kameron showed uncertainty at Steven's explination. I mean, lions aren't normally pink, but it's pretty obvious that this wasn't a normal lion. A desert isn't a lion's natural habitat since they normally live in grasslands and large open plains. Though Lion looked tamed, that alone was still in question. Sure he didn't attack Mrs. Cherry or the female student, but Kameron will need to keep his guard up for the time being if he acts out.

"Anything else about him?" Kameron asked.

Steven hummed for a moment right when his pupils turned into stars, "Oh yeah. Lion also has a-"

Just before Steven could finish Kameron turned his head and raised up his hand, making Steven stop speaking and look over to see what Kameron was seeing.

In front of the school a large white van and a small white car drove up and soon parked right near the curve. Near the boys and Lion, Principal Owens walked right out of the front entrance and made it down the stairs, locking his eyes onto the two vehicles. Opening their doors both Green and Christie got out of their vehicles and shut their doors before walking over to their son, Steven, Principal Owens and...Lion.

"Hi, Uncle Green. Hi, Aunt Christie." Steven said, slowly waving his hand at them.

"Hi, Steven. It's been a while." Christie replied as she approached him before the two shared a hug.

"Principal Owens. I am deeply sorry for any trouble that has happened." Green added, locking his eyes on the Principal.

Putting his hands on his hips, Principal Owens turned his eyes onto Steven while Lion just...laid down without a care in the world. A puff of air exited his mouth as he turned his attention back onto Green.

"No trouble has occurred, Green. Although my main concern is placed onto this young boy and this...pink lion." Principal Owens replied. "Are you related to this boy?"

Green shook his head. "This is Steven Universe. He is a friend of the family. And...I have seen this lion before."

Principal Owens hummed and turned his eyes onto Lion, "Then I suggest you handle this. The next time he appears here I will have no choice but to call Animal Control."

A gasp soon left Steven's lips upon hearing that. Breaking his hug with Aunt Christie Steven rushed up to Principal Owens and intertwined his hands together.

"No! Please, don't do that! Lion is tamed!" Steven pleaded.

Principal Owens lowered his head to Steven, seeing his eyes shaking and is lips quivering. It was understandable why he'd given a response like that to him, but the safety and protection of his school was his top priority first.

"He is a wild animal that needs to be put back into his natural habitat. I will not allow him to scare the living daylights out of my faculty and students." Principal Owens addressed.

"He's tamed. It's not his fault. It was an accident. He listens to be, right L-" Steven retorted as he turned his head to Lion.

Only...Lion wasn't there anymore...

Everyone turned their eyes to where Lion was and gasped at his disappearance. He...he was just there a moment ago and now...he just vanished.

HONK! HONK!

Turning their heads, everyone spotted Lion running through the streets, making several vehicles stop and swerve among the concrete.

"Lion!" Steven yelled and ran off.

"Steven!" Kameron yelled, going after him.

"Kameron, school hours are still active." Principal Owens called out.

"I'll take detention when I get back. This is more important." Kameron called back.

Green and Christie groaned at their son and nephews actions while pinching the bridges of their noses. They just had a talk about this with Kameron and he's already going against what they discussed. Sigh... The many flaws of teenagers: they don't always listen.

"We'll take care of this, Principal Owens. And we'll make sure this doesn't happen again." Christie assured.

"It better not." Principal Owens replied firmly. "And Kameron will have detention afterschool when he returns."

"Understood." Green said.

With that confirmation made both parents turned around and quickly made their way to their vehicles while Principal Owens turned around and went back inside. What a way to start a morning.

Picking up speed, Lion pushed himself along the sidewalk while making several bystanders and civilians move out of the way so he'd get through. Locking his eyes on the path in front of him he spotted two guys carrying a small but wide glass window. Turning their heads both men's eyes shot open at the sight of Lion coming right at them, however...right as he came to a close distance he pushed his paws into the sidewalk and ascended right into the air, right over the men and their glass before descending back down onto the sidewalk and pushing himself forward.

Right behind him Steven and Kameron were hot on his trail. Coming up to the men holding the glass Steven pushed himself back slightly and slid right underneath the glass with Kameron quickly turning himself to the side and sliding right underneath it before picking himself up and moving on.

"Huh. Looks like this is our lucky day." Man#1 said.

"Yeah, normally whenever two people are carrying glass it always ends up breaking. But at least we get to keep our jobs." Man#2 replied.

Man#1 nodded as they slowly entered into the building they were currently going into. Looks like that old cliche wasn't happening to them.

Catching up to Steven the boys swiftly shifted their bodies through a small crowd of bystanders while keeping their eyes on Lion. Pushing through the bystanders both boys suddenly stopped in their tracks at a crosswalk with the light being red and multiple cars going by.

"Aw, man! We're gonna lose him at this rate." Steven whined.

Turning to Steven, Kameron soon shifted his body the other way and got down onto one knee. "Get on my back." He added.

Steven turned to him and tilted his head in confusion, but he shook it and went up to Kameron's back, wrapping his arms and legs around his torso and lower waist.

Wrapping his arms around Steven's legs, Kameron stood right back up and bent his knees before leaping straight into the air and falling right down onto the other side of the street. Getting a good grip on Steven's legs and lowering his goggles onto his eyes, Kameron's pupils began to glow cyan right as he pushed himself onward in a burst of speed. With a huge gust of wind flowing around them, Steven couldn't help but giggle and laugh at the speed they were going. Sure, this was a very serious situation he was in, but the adrenaline and the sheer rush just felt so good.

From left to right Kameron rapidly passed by more and more bystanders in the split of a second with Lion still remaining in his sight. Up ahead Lion turned to a corner on the right, making Kameron push himself a bit more right as he made a quick turn around the corner. Lion then made his way toward another corner and turned right, making Kameron catch up and turn right as well.

Upon turning to the right the boys and Lion found themselves within an alleyway. Side by side were a long trail of bricks covered in paint and posters. At the very end were two large dumpsters accompanied by a small swarm of flies surrounding them. Lion then came to a stop near the dumpsters, making Kameron turn to his side, sliding his feet across the ground and coming to a stop. Releasing Steven's legs, Steven got off of Kameron and stood at his side while the teen lifted up his goggles and placed them back on top of his head.

"Lion!" Steven yelled.

Hearing his voice Lion turned his head to the boys.

"Why did you run off like that?" Steven yelled firmly. "Kameron now has detention because of you. And you made the both of us chase you down like you were a wild animal. Sure, you are an animal, but there has to be a reason to why you did what you did."

Lion's nose soon started to twitch, making him turn away from the boys and spread his legs out.

Steven moaned at Lion's action, "At least look at us when we're talking to you. That is so rude to just-"

PING!

Steven soon stopped talking at the loud sound entering the area. Reaching into his pocket, Kameron pulled out his phone and saw a Gem icon flashing on his screen. Tapping on it a map appeared right behind the icon before the icon itself was placed onto a location. Except...the location...was right here in Destiny City.

"What the?" Kameron whispered.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked.

Right before Kameron opened his mouth to answer Lion started to growl.

BOOM!

Bursting right out of the ground a large figure rose up into the air and landed right onto the ground in front of Lion and the boys. The figure stood on all fours and narrowed it's eyes at them while releasing a small growl. The figure's body was brownish with orange stripes with two long striped tails. It held dark orange eyes and large sharp fangs in it's mouth. Though there was fur covering it's body from head to toe with long sharp claws on each of it's paws. More noticeably, there was a large brownish-orange Gemstone on the left side of it's neck.

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRR!

The creature growled at the trio and soon lowered it's upper-body before it leaped straight into the air, aim right at Lion with it's claws. Lion soon jumped into the air as well, baring out his claws and fangs. Closer and closer the two were nearing each other until they initially made contact and grabbed each other before crashing back onto the ground.

Lion pushed his head out and aimed his fangs on the right side of the creature's neck, but right when he was about to get the chance the creature beat him to the punch and clamped it's fangs into Lion's neck. Lion roared and snarled at the sheer force placed on him, but that didn't matter as he clamped his own fangs onto his prey. Both sides twisted and turned each other while standing on their back legs until Lion slammed his prey onto the ground, getting right on top of it.

Right behind him Kameron and Steven stood, watching two beasts going at each other with such ferocity. Steven looked at this with shaken eyes, watching his animal friend fight and wanting to help him, yet he wasn't sure how. Kameron too was unsure how to proceed with the way things were going, watching the laws of the wild play out in front of him.

Soon enough the creature released it's bite on Lion and pushed him away using it's back legs. Scratching his claws among the ground small droplets of pink liquid poured out of Lion's neck and headed right onto the cracks in the concrete, but within seconds the wound that appeared in his mane began to glow pink and started closing up. This wasn't over just yet.

The creature began jogging right up to Lion and leaped into the air once more, but the same routine wasn't an option anymore.

RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!

Opening his mouth Lion unleashed and powerful roar, sending off huge pink shockwaves into the air. The creature got caught in this and was pushed right back through the air until it started falling and crash right into the dumpsters behind it. Bouncing off of the dumpster the creature slammed right into the ground. Soon it stretched out it's front claws and pushed itself up again, snarling at Lion. Pushing itself forward the creature leaped once again, baring out it's claws and fangs at it's prey.

But...right when it was about to make contact large crystal chains erupted right out of the ground, clamping themselves onto the beast's legs and mouth before forcefully pulling it right onto the ground. Lion blinked and turned his head back to see Kameron crystallized his hand before piercing the ground with it. Pulling his hand back the crystals soon went back into his skin before he walked straight up to Lion.

"Good boy, Lion. But allow me to end this before it starts dragging on." Kameron said.

Lion merely blinked at him, but then took a step back as Kameron approached the chained beast. Lifting up his right leg he raised as high into the air as he could until he rapidly brought it back down onto the creature's head.

POOF!

With the sheer force and power he put right into his leg the beast's body soon exploded into a brownish-orange cloud and from it it's Gemstone soon bounced on the concrete until it stopped. Picking up the Gemstone Kameron placed it into a green bubble and tapped it, making it disappear.

"Lion!" Steven cried, running up to him.

Approaching him Steven wrapped his arms around his animal companion. He then lifted his head and gazed up at Lion with teary eyes.

"Don't scare us like that again." Steven whimpered.

Lion soon raised up one of his paws and placed it around Steven, pushing him closer to his mane.

Kameron sighed while putting a hand on his hip. What the hell was he gonna do about all this.

"Boys!"

Kameron, Steven, and even Lion turned their heads at the entrance of the alleyway to see Green and Christie standing there. Without a word the trio calmly walked up to them.

"Are you all alright? The Gem Alert went off near your location." Green asked.

"Yeah, we're okay. A monster suddenly burst right out of the ground, but Lion and I managed to take it down." Kameron replied.

Green blinked at his son and slightly tilted his head. Near the back of the alleyway there was a big gaping hole with several cracks spreading out. There's wasn't any doubt in his son's words for that to be a lie.

"Well, you both are in big trouble." Christie addressed firmly. "Kameron, I'm taking you back to school and I've called Greg so that he can come and pick up Steven."

"What about Lion?" Steven asked.

"I will take care of him." Green addressed. "Understand Steven that a Lion in a city is very dangerous, regardless if he is tamed or not. Understand?"

Steven moaned and lowered his eyes onto the ground. Lion just fought a monster he found and yet he was still getting kicked out of the city. It wasn't fair, but...Uncle Green was right about that.

Seeing the sorrowful look on Steven, Green slowly approached him and raised a hand to the top of his forehead. Feeling his hand, Steven raised up his head, looking at the solemn expression of his uncle. It wasn't fair, but...he did understand why this needed to happen.

"Uh...guys..." Kameron said.

Everyone else turned to him to notice Lion disappearing...again.

HONK! HONK!

Looking over the corner of the alleyway, everyone watched Lion merely running off once more without a single care in the world.

"Here we go again." Kameron muttered.

End Of Episode 15.

Sorry for the long wait. My personal life got busy.

And so this was the introduction of Steven and Lion.

Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all soon.