The blood roared in Emmy’s ears, her paws pounding the earth in time with her rapidly beating heart.

She had to run faster.

Every fiber in her body was screaming for more speed. Already the bank of the dry creek bed, lined with savanna grass, was a blur as she raced through the night with her two friends Rain and Lumina. The three had been experiments in a lab far out in the grasslands, and upon learning they would be separated and sold, the trio had run away to the wild.
All around them, up on the banks and in the creek bed, the dark shapes of humans were chasing them. These were the very scientists who had experimented and altered the lionesses’ genes, in the name of progress. Now they carried tranquilizer guns, not willing to give up their projects to the expanses of untamed savanna.
Tranquilizer darts began to zip closer to Emmy’s body, and she let out a terrified squeak. “Lumina!” she said, turning her head to make sure the blue lioness had not been hit by the dart.
“Faster, you two! We have to split up. Emmy, you run up the hill, north. I’ll go south. Lumina, you run east. We’ll meet up later.” Rain hissed, her mismatched eyes flashing with fire. This time a gun shot rang out; a bullet buried itself into the ground by Emmy’s feet with a crunch. She heard Lumina mumble something, but there was no time! Another gun shot rang out, and Emmy scrambled up the creek bank. She dug her claws into the earth, and with one last effort, leapt clear of the bank. Rolling down the other side of the hill, she came to a stop in the grass. Emmy lay there, panting heavily, keeping her eyes closed for a few seconds while her mind whirled.
Suddenly, the grass around her rustled, and she leapt to her paws as a human jumped at her. With a roar, she knocked him off his feet with her paws. The man cried out at he landed painfully on the ground. Emmy watched him warily; should she run? She had the human on the ground; it would be easy to finish him off. The man saw her hesitation, and in that instant lunged for his gun he had dropped. Emmy sprang towards the gun too, desperate to keep it away from him. The man reached it first, but Emmy was on top of him. He jabbed the gun point into her stomach, and she roared in pain. Swinging her head around, she bit into his shoulder and flung him away. He screamed in midair as he rolled down the hill, and then landed in the creek bed with a soft whump. Panting and trembling, Emmy stood in the suddenly silent night. The tranquilizer gun lay at her feet; she kicked it into the grass where the humans would have trouble finding it. What had she just done? The man’s blood, the feeling of the muscle and bone crumpling in her jaws…with a tumultuous roar, she raced away from the scene, afraid of what she had just done.
Emmy ran for the rest of the night, until her entire body trembled with the effort of standing. As dawn broke to her right, a giant orange ball shimmering in its own heat waves, the lioness sought shade under a lone baobab tree. Here the grass thinned out to random brush that matched the sandy earth; Emmy flopped down among this camouflage, and watched the sun rise through the layers of clouds that gradually changed hues. Exhaustion called for rest, and soon she was sleeping…
…and then she was awake, several hours later. In that state of semi-consciousness, she realized it was now evening again. She lay there, and slowly her brain stirred to life. Yawning and stretching, she rose to her paws, wondering what there was to eat out in the wild. But just then she heard a stirring sound in the brush, and she froze.
Her feline eyes scanned the grasses, and instantly she picked out a figure that wasn’t hiding very well. Even as she watched, she saw the figure move, and then a head appeared. It was another lion, but unlike one she had ever seen. He was a sandy color all over, with a funny ridge of fur that ran from his forehead down the back of his neck. But that was the only marking he had! Where was his special fur color, extra long tail tuft, or brilliant eye color? She stepped backward warily as the stranger approached, and sat down before her. He tilted his head curiously, looking at Emmy.
“Who are you?” he asked, not unkindly. Emmy huffed. “Me? You’re the one who snuck up on me. Who are you?” she growled. The lion grinned. “I am Umbar, of the Asante. I live in this territory. But I’ve never seen you before.” His eyes flickered. Emmy was baffled. What had Lumina said – that wild lions lived in prides, and roamed around? Then she felt a pang of sadness when she remembered Lumina and Rain. Instantly she turned back to Umbar. “I’m Emmy. I’ve never been out in the wild before. I can’t even hunt,” she blurted. Umbar raised an eyebrow.
“What is the wild?”
“What do you mean? We’re in the wild right now!”
Umbar shook his head. “I live in the Asante region, not The Wild. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Emmy realized with frustration that he didn’t think of this place as wild. She thought for a moment. “I come from…the Lab region. It’s a lot different from here.” The wild lion nodded, taking in her white markings. Emmy pressed her little dragonfly wings down even further, hiding them nervously. She couldn’t afford for this lion to think of her as too much of a freak.
“So you cannot hunt? How did you survive in the La-Lab region?”
“Um…someone brought me food.”
“Ah, so you are royalty.”
“Er, I guess…”
“Then why have you come here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Stories are revered among the Asante.”
“Well, I don’t feel like telling you.”
“What are you hiding, Emmy?”
“Nothing!” she growled, flustered. Umbar frowned. “The La-Lab region must be very different,” he murmured. Immediately Emmy felt bad. She had to tell him some kind of story; she needed him to show her how to survive out here. “I’m sorry, Umbar. It’s just very sad for me. You see, I was royalty, but…another pride took our region and my entire pride had to split up. So far I have come here.” Well, it was sort of close to the truth. Her only family, her friends Lumina and Rain, they had all gone separate ways. We’ll meet up later, Rain’s words echoed in her mind. But how much later? And where? Certainly not back at the lab, Emmy gulped. Umbar’s words pulled her back to the present.
“That is a tragedy. Well, perhaps you can find a new life here.”
“Yes, that is what I’m hoping to do, Umbar. Except…”
“You don’t know how to hunt.”
“Yeah. That.”
“I can teach you, I suppose.”
“Really? Thanks so much!”
Umbar looked at her for a second. Emmy flicked her ears nervously. She still couldn’t get over his completely boring pelt. It was like looking through him at the dusty savanna beyond. “You’ll need to join the pride, of course. Outsiders are usually only adult males. I am still a cub. I haven’t grown any of my mane yet,” he sighed, looking up at the funny ridge of fur on his forehead. Emmy grinned. “Well, what are we waiting for then?”