The Pack Meets the Pride

As they were working on their kennel doors with little to no progress, Borris couldn't help but hear something (or rather someone) chanting. It was coming up from behind him. "Hey, does anyone hear chanting or is it just me?"

"Is that all that you have heard?" said a voice. Suddenly, a fuzzy head showed upside down at the front of his kennel. With a yelp, the startled wolf tripped over backwards as the others peered to see what was going on. It was a baboon in what they saw was a large stick with some empty gourds attached to it.

"Where the heck did you come from?!" Borris asked as he was gathering himself.

Chuckling, the monkey replied with, "The better question is, where did you all come from?"

"Well, definitely not from around here!" said Colt. "We're from the Northwest. We were on a flight to another part of the world but ol' Mother Nature was in one of her moods. Next thing you know, we landed smack dab here in 'non-Kansas'!"

"Ahh, you had an unfortunate affair with the spirits of the clouds, did you? Ho-ho-ho-ho! That is most interesting. And where were you all headed to in such a state like this?" He emphasized this by tapping on Borris' kennel.

"We were on our way to spread preservation and awareness of our species. To help educate the world about the importance of how animals like us fit in the environment; according to our human caretakers." Duke answered. "As Borris there just said, we had an unfortunate incident that led us to land here. Do you think you can help us?"

"Is that so? How peculiar." Rafiki said as he rubbed his chin in thought. He was inspecting them from kennel to kennel, trying to see what exactly these strange creatures were. "So what, my friends, do you call yourselves? If you are not hyenas, then what are you?"

"Hyenas....? We're wolves, actually. We're a whole different kind of species," said Radolf. "I doubt we look anything similar to your so-called hyenas. You probably can tell if you will kindly let us out."

The monkey rubbed his chin with intrigue. "Interesting. Well, there is someone I know who can possibly help you with where you need to go."

"Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," said Achak. "Alright. If you can get us out of here, we'll let you take us to whoever your friend is." The odd-colored monkey didn't waste another moment as he went ahead and undid the latches to each of their cages. Soon enough, all seven of the wolves were out of their kennels and stretched until they realized that the weather here was not the same like back home. Getting a better look at them all, Rafiki seemed even more curious of these 'non-hyenas'.

"Holy mother of White Fang! It's hot out here!" Radolf exclaimed. "I know it's pretty bad in the Carolinas, but nothing like this."

"Yeah. This makes Mississippi look like summertime in May." Colt added. He asked the strange primate, "I don't suppose you know a lake or river we can cool off at, do ya?"

"There is. I show it to you. You follow old Rafiki, he knows the way! Come!" the monkey known as Rafiki demanded. He was starting to lead the way as he signaled them to follow him.

"Are you sure we should trust this guy?" Radolf asked everyone.

"We have to trust somebody," said Meika. "It's better than wandering around trying to find a way back to our humans. Plus he seems eager to help."

"Meika's right. Let's just keep alert and be careful in case things go wrong." Duke implied. He then lowered his voice for only them to hear. "And if he does double cross us, we'll have a light meal to hold us over for a bit." He then felt a huge whack on his head as it was the baboon who did it, making the wolf-dog yelp and wince in pain.

"Don't dawdle! Hurry up!" Rafiki said to them as he took off running.

"Hey! Hey, wait a minute! Get back here!" Duke cried out. "Come on. Let's get a moving." And off they went, chasing after Rafiki to someone who hopefully can help them get back on track to where they need to go.

For what seemed like for hours, the band of lupines followed their designated guide through the vast dry plains that hardly seemed to have any signs of wildlife. They were almost at the point of stopping for a moment in order to cool off. But just as it looked like their patience was about to run dry, Rafiki made them stop and waved them to his general direction. "Stop! We are here! Welcome, my friends, to the Pride Lands." The wolves from another land couldn't believe what they were seeing.

A vast grassed area with animal life they've never seen before in their lives. Large elephants, pronghorn antelope, zebras and more dwelled in these 'Pride Lands' with several strange trees and bushes; and there in the middle of it all was a gigantic acute rock formation overlooking them all like a giant castle.

The wolves, speechless in awe and wonder, were taking it all in. So many different sights and smells swarmed around them. "It's incredible," said Radolf.

"I've never seen anything like it." Borris added. "It's amazing how different the world can be."

"And y'all have this spit of land all to yourselves?" Colt asked Rafiki who was leaning on his staff, smiling as he watched the newcomers taking in the sites.

"We all share this together, as it is part of the great Circle of Life," the monkey replied. "But I live elsewhere not too far from here."

"Can't wait to see it all," said Meika smiling. "So who exactly is this friend of yours who can help us exactly?"

"You may find him over there," was Rafiki's answer. He turned her head to the large rock formation in front of the little group and pointed. "At Pride Rock, you can seek help. But now my friends, I must say goodbye to you. May we see each other again, eh?" He gave a friendly chuckle as he patted Duke's back.

"We're all thankful for your help, Rafiki. Thanks for everything," said a thankful Duke. "Except for that moment he nearly clobbered me on the noggin," he grumbled in his thoughts.

"You are most welcome, my strange friends. If you are in need of my help again, just be shown the way and you will find me there." The baboon scampered off and disappeared into the high brush, humming his little tune.

Over at Pride Rock, Simba was making his way outside to stroll around the Pride Lands when Zazu, a bright blue feathered hornbill, flew up to him. "Good morning, sire."

"Good morning, Zazu. How are things looking in the Pride Lands today?"

"All calm for today, sire. As is well here."

Simba smiled, then saw an old friend of his walking up with some unusual creatures. They didn't seem like hyenas and yet had some similar features to them. "It looks like we're about to see if that will change."

Zazu looked in his direction and saw the same thing as Simba did. "What in the world are those things? I've never in my life seen such creatures, much less any predators like those. Shall I alert the lionesses, sire?"

"Hmm. Bring them here, but let's not cause an alarm. We don't want everyone in a panic. And if you find Timon and Pumbaa, have them here too. I don't want them being confused as food for our new visitors."

"Of course, sire." The hornbill flew off to summon everyone to Pride Rock. Simba looked back to the crowd of strange creatures accompanying his old friend. "What have you come across this time, Rafiki?" he thought in his mind.

After Rafiki left, the wolves soon looked back at the giant rock and then at each other. "Must we really do this? I mean, we have no idea what's waiting for us there," said Borris, looking nervous.

"Well, we came this far, Borris. We might as well." Duke answered. "If this is our only hope knowing how to get back home, I'm taking it. How about everyone else?" While Radolf seemed adamant about it, everyone else seemed hesitant but likely willing to give it a chance. "Alright then. Now remember. Be calm, use your head, and everything will be okay. As long as we mind our p's and q's, we should have no trouble with the locals around here." With that said, they made their way to the rock, growing more huge as they got closer.

"Could you imagine ever living in a place like this?" Colt pondered. "Why I'd be top tier as pack leader with a home as big as this here rock."

"You sure you wouldn't be compensating for something?" joked Elda, which got a chuckle out of some of the wolves. Colt gave a sarcastic laugh as he rolled his eyes. As they got to the bottom of Pride Rock, several female lions started to gather there as well to which the wolves didn't know what they were.

"Ooo weee! Them's the biggest mountain cats I've ever seen!" Colt exclaimed.

"Lions actually." Radolf corrected him. "But yeah them's...I mean they're the biggest cats I've ever seen as well."

"Remember, manners at all times everyone." Duke whispered to them. He cleared his throat and spoke to the large cats. "Hello and salutations! My friends and I need help to get back home. We were sent here by, hopefully, a friend of yours so we can be shown the way back."

For a moment, it seemed like the lions were not sure if they believed him and were muttering amongst themselves. One of the lionesses looked over as she noticed Borris and giggled with a smile. Borris, uncertain about what it was about, gave a nervous chuckle before giving a small nervous whimper and flattened his ears.

"I don't think they believe us," muttered Radolf to Duke out the corner of his mouth.

"I don't suppose you have a plan B, do you?" Achak chimed in with the same tone. While Duke had hoped for the best, he felt like this was going to end in disaster for all of them.

Just as he was about to answer, the odd pack noticed another lion with a large tuff of mane around his head walking down with two other lionesses, one of them he assumed was his mate, as well as a strange looking bird flying along with them. "Hello! Welcome to the Pride Lands. I am Simba, king of the Pride Lands. This is my wife, Nala,-" he indicated to the left of him as she nodded in friendly greeting, "-and my daughter Kiara." As he indicated to his right, she gave a friendly hello. "We are thankful to meet some new and unusual faces here at the Pride Lands. Who are you and how did you come here, may I ask?"

The head lion had a bit of a formal tone in his voice which impressed Duke. He was glad in the fact that this Simba character wasn't being upfront and hostile about it. But regardless, he tried to do his best to keep that demeanor as much as possible. "Well, my name is Duke and these are my friends: Achak, Meika, Elda, Radolf, Colt and Borris." They all said hello to the lions as Colt gave a hearty 'Howdy!'. "As to how we came here, well...it's a bit hard to explain." He tried anyway, informing them exactly how they came to be here. "And that's how your friend, Rafiki, led us here to talk to you," he later finished. It didn't surprise him when the large cats didn't quite know what to make of their story.

"Just where are these 'kennels' exactly?" the bird perked up attentively.

"A few ways back that-a-way," said Achak as he nodded in the direction they came from. "If it's convincing you want, we'd be more than happy to show you if you don't mind walking a few miles."

Simba pondered for a moment. If Rafiki did have these 'wolves' brought here for help, he must know there's truth in what they said; not to mention how they were willing to take him to where they were accidentally dropped off. After thinking it over, he spoke. "Very well. As long as you don't object to my wife and a few others accompany me."

"No objections here, your majesty," said Duke matter-of-factly. "We're more than happy to oblige."

"Very well then. Lead on, Duke." As they were about to leave, Simba then called for Zazu. "Zazu! Why don't you and Kiara show our guests around the perimeters of the Pride Lands? The least we can do is show them around until we find a way to help them get home. Take any of the lionesses to accompany you. We'll back soon."

"Very good, sire. As you wish." Zazu bowed to him, while being a bit nervous being left with these strange possibly dangerous predators to play tour guide.

His daughter Kiara, however, was of different mind. "Daddy, Zazu doesn't have to come along with us!" she said. "I can show them around on my own."

"I know you're grown enough to do so, but I want Zazu with you in case something comes up. Just do this for me for once, please?" Simba begged. "Besides, I don't want them confusing Timon and Pumbaa as food."

As she was about to argue, Colt chimed in. "We'd be more than happy to have beaky there come along, yer majesty. It's no problem if both of them accompany us on this fine afternoon."

"Yeah. I mean two guides are better than one, right?" Radolf added. "We wouldn't mind it all. Right, Borris?"

Borris was still keeping a nervous eye on the lioness eyeing him when Radolf got his attention. "Huh? Oh yeah, yeah! Sure! No problem!" he said startled.

"Okay then. Meika, Achak and I will show their majesties the drop-off point while the rest of you get shown around the Pride Lands. We'll be back as soon as we can. We'll send word once we've taken care of this." Duke said. "Remember, mind your manners. And whatever you do, don't do anything stupid okay?"

"Alright!" came the reply from the other wolves. And so, the two groups split up with two lionesses accompanying the group investigating the kennels while three others went with the rest on the small tour. How this would play out, neither side knew for certain.