The trio sped back towards the pride with Luna leading the way. Everyone was quiet, but their thoughts were loud and vivid in their minds.
Damn Professor… how the hell did he manage to find us out here? Lumina thought angrily.
I don’t know. But rest assured we will find her. Luna replied. Lumina just shook her head furiously as the Asante dens came into view.

Back at the heart of the pride, the place was in total chaos. Some lionesses tried to calm the young cubs, while others tried to bring order.
“Look at this place… we’re never going to get their attention at this rate.” Lalibela murmured to Mansa.
        “I’ll take care of this.” He jumped upon the lookout rock, and roared so deafeningly that the birds in the savannah startled and flew from the grass.

        Everything became deadly silent.

        “Good. I finally have your attention. I want everyone to calm down!” he boomed.
        “Do you think those blue and striped creeps had something to do with this?” one of the lionesses called out.
        “Yeah, because of them, we’ve been discovered by those twiglegs and now we’ll never be at peace!” shouted another.
        “What about the cubs? None of us will ever be safe!”
        An uproar began and things started to get out of control again.
        “SILENCE!!” bellowed Mansa.

        Everything went quiet once more.

        “I agree with all of you. Our troubles didn’t begin until the blue lioness and her zebra-striped friend arrived,” he growled.
        “What are we going to do with them?” someone shouted.
        “I say we exile them!” suggested another.
Instantly, everyone was chattering in agreement.

        “They’re here! And it seems that they brought along another freak with them!” a lioness who was keeping a lookout called out. Everyone turned and saw the trio coming.
        Oh great… just what we need, another weirdo to complete the three ring circus… thought Umbar.
        “Mansa! Lalibela! Everyone, we need to save Emmy!” yelled Lumina.
        “We believe we know where she’s being held captive!” Luna added.
        “Oh really? And we have a pretty good idea how those twiglegs has found our pride…” growled Mansa. Everyone shot deadly glares and snarls at the three of them.
        “Uh… I don’t think they’re too happy with us…” whispered Rain.
        “You think?” Lumina whispered back rather loudly.
        “You’re right, we’re not happy with you three. In fact, we’re pissed!” Lalibela snarled, walking towards them.
        “Wh-why? What did we do?” Luna chattered nervously.
        “Why you say? Ever since you and Lumina came here I knew you were trouble. And now you’ve brought another one strange thing along with you!”
        “Strange thing?” Rain muttered, feeling insulted.
        “You two are the reason that brought the twiglegs out here – it’s your own fault they took Emmy!”
        “What?” Lumina cried out, baffled.
        “How does that work?” yelled Luna. Lalibela shoved her face in to Luna’s.
        “You two stick out so much, you scare the prey away! You’re just not natural!” the lead lioness growled, and shoved Luna a step backwards. Lumina looked past Lalibela, trying to plead with Mansa. The male lion remained in the background, unwilling to get involved. And Lumina suddenly saw that he was torn between saving Emmy, and keeping face in front of his pride.
        “Please just listen to us, Mansa! We know where we can find Emmy!” Lumina shouted over the angry roars of the pride. Lumina fought through the wall of snarling lionesses until she stood in front of Mansa. “Look, I’m sorry that we attract so much attention because of our odd looks. It’s not our fault what the humans did to us! We don’t want anything to do with them, we’ve been running from them for weeks!” Lumina suddenly gasped; she had just admitted her and her friends’ biggest secret.
        Everyone but Luna and Rassberries was in shock, followed by a long uncomfortable silence. Lumina looked at the pride; she felt a knot form in her stomach. This is just great… I’m such an idiot… might as well tell them the truth I guess… She gulped before she spoke.
        “The labcoats that you all call ‘twiglegs’… they’re our creators… we were their experiments… and they gave us life… that’s why we look so strange to you…” Lumina said quietly, looking down at the ground to avoid contact with the angry pride.
        “If Emmy’s an experiment, then why does she look like everyone else?” Akilah asked.
        “You haven’t noticed but she has dragonfly wings on her back. She was hiding them from you so you wouldn’t be seeing her as a freak like you see me, Luna and Rain.” she paused to look up from the ground; she was starting to gain a little confidence.
        “I remember when I first found Emmy, she mentioned that she came from the ‘Lab Region’.” Umbar commented.
        “Yes, we lived in a lab. We had everything in there: food; water; and shelter.”
        “Then why did you guys come here if you had everything back there?” a nearby lioness snapped. The pride was still angry, Lumina noted, but at least they were quieting down.
        Lumina sighed before she continued. “I learned what real lions did and how they really behaved outside the building… we wanted to live a normal life that had no walls; cages; machines; or fences…” she turned to Rain and looked at her with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
        “I also wanted us to escape because the Professor was planning on selling you and Emmy… I couldn’t bear being separated…”
        Rain blinked in surprise. “Sell me? You never told me that…”
        “I was too afraid to tell you.”
        No one said a word; it was so quiet that it almost seemed that the wind itself had stopped blowing. Lumina turned to Mansa.
        “Please, help us rescue Emmy. I know she means a lot to the pride,” she pleaded.
        Mansa was deep in thought for a bit before he answered. “Emmy saved the entire pride from a tragedy that would have destroyed us all.” He turned to the blue lioness.
        “Lumina, I feel pity for all of you. But I don’t want to endanger the whole pride just to save one member of the Asante pride.”
        “Maybe we can do something that can benefit us both.” Lumina replied, a plan beginning to form in her mind.
        “What are you saying, Lumi?” Rain asked.
        “What I mean, Rain, is that we can save Emmy and get rid of those labcoats for good.” Lumina replied slyly, her eyes flashing.  
        “And how’s that possible?” Umbar asked suspiciously, stepping forward.
        “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but that’s the only way we can rid ourselves from the labcoats…” Lumina said, as the pride drew close around her. For the first time, she felt as if they didn’t hate her entirely.

                                                       ***

        “So… will you help us rescue Emmy?” Lumina asked Mansa.
        “We will help you. I want the labcoats gone from our territory for good, so the Asante can hunt in peace.” He turned to the lionesses.
        “Who wants to go with me?” he roared. Every single lioness roared in reply, and Lumina grinned as she joined in, and the savannah echoed with their thunderous voices.
        “If you’ll go, then so shall we,” Akilah said proudly, standing up straight and looking at Mansa straight in the eye, like a soldier. Everyone nodded in agreement.
“So it’s settled,” Lumina said, pleased. Rain grinned nervously, and Luna hopped from paw to paw excitedly.
        “Fire, fire, fire,” the tigress muttered happily. Lumina smiled up at the sky and noticed that the stars were barely appearing.
        “Tomorrow at dusk, we attack…”