| Chapter Twenty-four |
One by one the cubs began to wake up. Zipper was reluctant to leave the comfort of sleep for this monster headache
he had for some reason, but instinct compelled him to, something was definitely amiss. Hope had also been drugged;
she didnt' remember anything past getting kidnapped. Shadow was awake, but fear kept her eyes closed, holding still.
Babylon registered that his perceived reality had been altered dramatically, but he didn’t feel strong enough yet to
ascertain whether or not the change was a favorable one. Although, since he was at least abstractly looking forward to
feeling stronger, perhaps it was a change for the good. How curious…
As the cubs struggled awake, Incosi Sapphire watched them all intently. She was in an enclosed space. With two lions. A
cheetah. A black something… and a very large gold-orange striped something else. She was the only canine among five
big cats of prey, every last one bigger than her. She would really get some satisfaction out of screaming her head off
right about now.
Tezaka had been awake the whole time, naturally, keeping tabs on his surroundings through sound and echolocation.
His companions’ heartbeats and breathing patterns had changed to indicate the end of their sleeping. No one was
moving much yet, and the big guy hadn’t moved at all. His sister was outside the big straw-filled cage, chained to its
exterior with some really heavy-duty steel. The humans were taking no chances, which was smart of them. They were
concerned that Shakaza would wake up and start fighting with whatever was around her.
Which was pretty accurate, actually.
Then Tezaka did open his eyes, for he heard the stride of the doctor-human. This man was different, somehow, but he
couldn’t quite define the difference. At the moment he was carrying a fully conscious but unmoving male lion cub in a
drawstring canvas bag that was fastened tight about the neck, revealing only his head. Tezaka took a mental snapshot
of the eighth member of their little menagerie and analyzed it. The cub had interesting mottled markings on what was
visible. White and grey with some hints of the standard golden-brown where the mane-scruff would be in a few months.
Very striking eyes, one pink and one blue. And a shiny, almost luminescent gold marking on the side of his face.
Perhaps he had been chosen for his unique coloration.
Whatever the reason, the grey-white calico must’ve been extremely violent; for the doctor not only kept it restrained in
the bag, but also did not put it in the air-drop cage with the others. Instead, the cub was further restrained, draw-string
bag and all, in some sort of child’s harness bolted to the wall of the airplane. Man, is this guy deemed a greater threat
than Shakaza?
As he finished buckling in the two-tone, the somehow strange human bent down and looked the cub in its eyes and
spoke. “Don’t worry, little guy. It’s for your own safety. We don’t want you to hurt yourself in a scuffle with any of the
others. Especially that Shakaza. I’m sorry for what you’re going through and for what’s still to some, but I promised your
father I’d take care of you and Hope. My name is Kodi.”
The cub’s eyes had been getting wider and wider, now he was slack-jawed. Tezaka was somewhat confused himself. He
and his sister could understand English, though this particular human’s thick Australian accent might give some trouble.
He was speaking English, but his vocal patterns were somehow different, registering as Commonal, the largely sub-vocal
language that most higher forms of animal life could communicate in.
The other conscious animals had noticed it as well. The orange-cream colored lioness cub took particular notice; she
must be the aforementioned ‘Hope’. Zak could also tell from the FM stress vibrations in the regular English that the
human was not lying; somehow he actually had spoken with this cub’s father. Suddenly another human came walking by
and the doctor stopped conversing. He stood to his feet, scratched the cub behind the ears and said, “Stay calm, Jozay.”
This ‘Kodi’ was unusual indeed. The only instances of humans speaking Commonal that Tezaka was aware of were
young children, most of whom lost the ability young enough that as adults they assumed they never had it in the first
place. This certainly warranted further investigation. The cub, whose name was apparently ‘Jozay’, called after the
human as he left the rear of the aircraft, “Thank you, Kodi! If you mean what you’re saying, thank you!” Kodi walked out
of earshot. “And thank Sozo for you.”
he had for some reason, but instinct compelled him to, something was definitely amiss. Hope had also been drugged;
she didnt' remember anything past getting kidnapped. Shadow was awake, but fear kept her eyes closed, holding still.
Babylon registered that his perceived reality had been altered dramatically, but he didn’t feel strong enough yet to
ascertain whether or not the change was a favorable one. Although, since he was at least abstractly looking forward to
feeling stronger, perhaps it was a change for the good. How curious…
As the cubs struggled awake, Incosi Sapphire watched them all intently. She was in an enclosed space. With two lions. A
cheetah. A black something… and a very large gold-orange striped something else. She was the only canine among five
big cats of prey, every last one bigger than her. She would really get some satisfaction out of screaming her head off
right about now.
Tezaka had been awake the whole time, naturally, keeping tabs on his surroundings through sound and echolocation.
His companions’ heartbeats and breathing patterns had changed to indicate the end of their sleeping. No one was
moving much yet, and the big guy hadn’t moved at all. His sister was outside the big straw-filled cage, chained to its
exterior with some really heavy-duty steel. The humans were taking no chances, which was smart of them. They were
concerned that Shakaza would wake up and start fighting with whatever was around her.
Which was pretty accurate, actually.
Then Tezaka did open his eyes, for he heard the stride of the doctor-human. This man was different, somehow, but he
couldn’t quite define the difference. At the moment he was carrying a fully conscious but unmoving male lion cub in a
drawstring canvas bag that was fastened tight about the neck, revealing only his head. Tezaka took a mental snapshot
of the eighth member of their little menagerie and analyzed it. The cub had interesting mottled markings on what was
visible. White and grey with some hints of the standard golden-brown where the mane-scruff would be in a few months.
Very striking eyes, one pink and one blue. And a shiny, almost luminescent gold marking on the side of his face.
Perhaps he had been chosen for his unique coloration.
Whatever the reason, the grey-white calico must’ve been extremely violent; for the doctor not only kept it restrained in
the bag, but also did not put it in the air-drop cage with the others. Instead, the cub was further restrained, draw-string
bag and all, in some sort of child’s harness bolted to the wall of the airplane. Man, is this guy deemed a greater threat
than Shakaza?
As he finished buckling in the two-tone, the somehow strange human bent down and looked the cub in its eyes and
spoke. “Don’t worry, little guy. It’s for your own safety. We don’t want you to hurt yourself in a scuffle with any of the
others. Especially that Shakaza. I’m sorry for what you’re going through and for what’s still to some, but I promised your
father I’d take care of you and Hope. My name is Kodi.”
The cub’s eyes had been getting wider and wider, now he was slack-jawed. Tezaka was somewhat confused himself. He
and his sister could understand English, though this particular human’s thick Australian accent might give some trouble.
He was speaking English, but his vocal patterns were somehow different, registering as Commonal, the largely sub-vocal
language that most higher forms of animal life could communicate in.
The other conscious animals had noticed it as well. The orange-cream colored lioness cub took particular notice; she
must be the aforementioned ‘Hope’. Zak could also tell from the FM stress vibrations in the regular English that the
human was not lying; somehow he actually had spoken with this cub’s father. Suddenly another human came walking by
and the doctor stopped conversing. He stood to his feet, scratched the cub behind the ears and said, “Stay calm, Jozay.”
This ‘Kodi’ was unusual indeed. The only instances of humans speaking Commonal that Tezaka was aware of were
young children, most of whom lost the ability young enough that as adults they assumed they never had it in the first
place. This certainly warranted further investigation. The cub, whose name was apparently ‘Jozay’, called after the
human as he left the rear of the aircraft, “Thank you, Kodi! If you mean what you’re saying, thank you!” Kodi walked out
of earshot. “And thank Sozo for you.”
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