A lonely hyena padded through the long grass, periodically looking back the way he came and pushing his glasses back up with a paw. He's different, Nein! Wouldn't you be, too, if your mother was dead? He shivered and put the thoughts to the back of his mind. He had always known he was different. If he wanted something, it would sometimes float toward him. Things often exploded or caught fire when he was angry.

A scent disturbed his thoughts. It was similar to his own smell, but it smelled more like a feline than a hyena. He followed it to a small pond. A rock rising from the other side held a feline form. In the dim light before dawn, he could see her spotted hide. The spots were unlike those of a cheetah, so he was still unsure what she was.

She seemed to be in the grip of a nightmare, writhing in pain and clawing at the rock. The hyena stepped back in surprise onto a stick. The leopardess awoke, still in the grip of the nightmare. The terrible memory was still fresh in her mind. She leaned over the edge to see her reflection in the pool. Flames still danced in front of her eyes, and the helpless cries of the cubs still rang in her ears.

“Ma'am?”

She blinked, and the nightmare reluctantly receded.

“Ma'am? Are you all right?”

The leopardess turned to see the hyena sitting beside her rock. “I'll be fine, Darling,” she replied. “I see you're psychic. What's your name?” The hyena looked shocked, making the leopardess laugh. “Being psychic means you can do unusual things. I'm Milla,” she said, dipping her head. The hyena dipped his head, too.

“Sasha.”

“Sasha...that's such a lovely name...”

“Uh-san-tay, sauna, squash banana!”

The rest of the song was unintelligible. Milla's green eyes locked onto Sasha's glasses. He knew who it was as much as she did. They looked toward the singer. It was a baboon with a staff. Both he and his staff were ornamented with purple-pink rocks. He sat down next the them, laughing a bit. “So, you two need directions, then?” the baboon asked. His left eye was slightly higher than the other.

Sasha and Milla were more confused than ever, causing the baboon to chuckle. “I mean, since you two are running away from undesirable situations, you want to find a place where you don't have to run anymore,” he explained. Sasha and Milla looked at each other, then nodded to the baboon.

“Look beyond what you see!”

Sasha and Milla looked to each other again as the baboon laughed, but when they turned back toward him, he was gone. “What do you think he meant?” Milla asked. Sasha cupped his chin in his paw. “It's a metaphor,” he said, thoughtfully. “Although he could mean...” “Mean what?” Milla prompted.

“That...we should...stay together...”

As the sun broke over the horizon, a lone, blue hornbill flew toward a large rock formation that towered over the plains. He watched as groups of animals worked their way toward the base. Here, in the Whispering Lands, the only psychic animals were the lions who presided over all. That is, usually. Some animals, like Cruller the baboon and this hornbill, were psychic as well and were held in high esteem by the lions.

The hornbill landed gently on the Whispering Rock's lower platform, despite the fact he was blind in one eye. He adjusted his spiked helmet (which for some reason had a cork on the spike) and saluted the lion standing before him. “At ease, soldier,” the lion chuckled to his diminutive friend. The lion was long and lean, not really one's idea of a strong lion. He was strong; don't get me wrong. He just didn't look it.

The animals finally made their way to the foot of Whispering Rock and looked up, expectantly. Then the crowd parted, revealing the baboon. Some of the animals even bowed to him, but Cruller just walked on. He climbed straight up the front of Whispering Rock to find himself face to face with the lion. Once Cruller was standing, the lion embraced him.

Cruller then followed the lion to where a blue lioness lay some feet away with something between her forelegs. As they walked, sunlight glinted off the giant safety pin placed in a clump of fur just above the lion's elbow. “Now what have you got there, Marina?” Cruller asked, even though he knew the answer. Marina lifted her head, revealing a tiny cub.

He looked more like his father, seeing as how there wasn't a speck of blue on him. As it was, he was covered in gray spots. Baby camouflage. He rolled over to get a better look at Cruller. The baboon shook his staff over the baby's head, and the cub pawed at it, putting out a claw. Cruller pulled out his wasp honey, dipped his thumb in it, and spread it on the tiny lion's forehead.

He then sprinkled powdered Psitanium over the cub, making him sneeze. His parents shared a smile over it. Cruller picked up the baby lion, cradling him. He walked to the edge of the platform and held up the cub for all to see. At about the same time this was going on, Sasha and Milla had followed the animals to Whispering Rock, curious.

“I've never seen so many different kinds of animals in the same place before,” Sasha said, his expression holding something like awe. “Then we'll fit in just fine here!” Milla crowed, bouncing on her white paws.

“But...there's no hyenas...”

“I don't see any leopards, either, Darling. Besides, that's not the point.”

Sasha looked around. Just beyond the large rock formation, he spotted a cave next to a small pond. “What about that?” he asked. Milla looked where he was pointing. “Ooh! It's adorable!” she cried and started running down the hill toward the crowd.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, Sasha. This is the fastest way!”

Milla plunged into the crowd. Sasha stood outside, nervous and unsure. The other animals would definitely not want him there, but...Milla was his first, real friend. He plunged in after her. As he dodged around and between the legs of glaring animals, Sasha found himself in front of Milla. He turned toward her, and she stopped. A look of pain and embarrassment crossed her face.

Then all hell broke loose. Animals started dropping left and right around her, unconscious. “Run!” she cried. The two escaped the crowd and rested, panting. The fainting animals did not go unnoticed, however. “Hey,” said a zebra to his buddies. “The rhinos are bowing. We should probably bow, too.”

Up on Whispering Rock, the hornbill saw what he took to be an entire crowd of bowing animals. “Ha,” he said, “those maggots certainly know their place.” He looked at the lion, but the lion was too busy watching Cruller hold up his cub.

Sasha cleared his throat, and Milla turned to him. “Are you...are you in...heat?” he asked. Milla ducked her head between her forelegs, embarrassed. “Yes,” came the muffled reply. “Nobody's ever really minded it, but...it makes it kinda hard to hunt...”

Sasha started to laugh. He couldn't help it; it just rolled out of him. Milla jumped up, feeling defensive, but she could hear his thoughts behind the laughter. Hard to hunt? They pass out! A smile spread across Milla's face. It was funny. She watched him roll around on the grass, laughing, and decided she wanting to make him laugh like that again.