Voice cast:
Steve Yuen as Derek Knight
Alice Lee as Nicole Suwan
Jace Norman as Galen
Max Charles as Liuer
David Jason as Yar
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Over the next few days, the house was fully repaired after the attack from the Titanophant herd. Derek and Nicole's wounds have healed thanks to Yar's medicine. They were back to harvesting crops, cleaning up the house, and taking care of Maggie, a strange beast that is large in size and has chimeric anatomy. She appears to have the body of a yak and the head of a condor, and she walks on two legs, giving her a passing resemblance to theropod dinosaurs. The hind limbs resemble those of a rhinoceros, and have three hooved toes on each foot. Along with her companion Ajabu the Taperaffe. He has a chalicothere-like bodyplan, his feet are quite similar to Maggie's, a prehensile trunk which was about as long as the arm of an adult female human, and a pair giraffe-like horns on his head.
Today was one of few days that the kids would have a break, and they decided to play some baseball. However, with only three of them, they didn't have enough players to play the game properly. They also didn't have a bat or a ball or a mitten. So, they came up with a new game.
The goal was to see how close you can get to cutting a Pitcher melon thrown at you down the middle. Whoever did wins the game.
(This is a Pitcher melon, by the way.)
Being a baseball player himself, Derek was the first one up to bat, using the Slasher spear that he used not only for defense and hunting, but for the crops as well. Stepping up to the plate, Derek lightly hits the sides of his feet on the spear as if it was a bat before getting position. "Alright, Galen! Show me what you've got!"
Struggling at first, Galen managed to roll the first melon onto the pitching mound. Then, using all of his strength, he threw it at Derek. The moment Galen threw it, Derek went through the motions and took a swing. Cutting the melon in two.
The three friends walked over to the two halves, and Derek picked them up. Placing them together, he saw how close he was to cut it down the middle.
"Wow, Derek! You almost got it!" Galen said, pointing at the melon.
"Bet I could do better," Nicole said with a smirk.
"Oh, is that so?" Derek asked with a smile, taking it she was challenging him. Holding out his spear to her, he said, "By all means, Nicky, show us what you've got."
"You've got it." Nicole took the weapon as Galen ran back over to the pitching mound. Nicole walked up to the plate and got ready to swing. "Hey, Batta Batta Batta!"
Mustering all the energy his arms could give, Galen threw the next Pitcher melon at Nicole. As it came towards her, she took a swing. But she missed the fruit and lost her grip on the spear.
"Ah, whiffed it," she said, before gasping when seeing the spear going straight for Galen. "Galen!"
"Huh?"
"Watch out!" Derek ran as fast as he could and tackled Galen to the ground, just in the nick of time. The spear flew over them and into the forest, hitting a tree. The trio stared in the direction it flew off, with Galen standing on Derek's shoulders. A moment later, his hat fell apart. Having been cut sliced in two halves. Revealing that Galen had reddish hair.
"Wanna go again?" he asked the two humans.
"Yeeeaaahhh!" Nicole and Derek cheered.
"Wait, your hair," Nicole asked, pointing at Galen's hair.
...
Soon the three entered into the forest to look for Derek's spear. While they were walking, Derek felt slight discomfort and pain in his ribs, and he placed his hand over where it was hurting the most. Nicole saw this and became concerned, knowing there was a bruise there. Out of the two of them, he was getting hurt the most, and the Titanophant attack was one of the worse fights they've been in. How Derek was still alive after what the Matriarch did was a mystery. How they were alive at all was an even bigger one.
Walking closer to him, she looked at him with worry. "Hey, are you okay, Derek?" She asked.
Derek quickly took his hand away from where he had it and waved it at her. "I'll be fine, Nicole, really. Just a little sore, that's all."
Nicole smiled in relief as the three ventured deeper into the jungle. After walking through a large bush, she saw the spear. "Oh, there it is," she said, pointing to it as the weapon was lodged in a tree.
Derek walked over and yanked out of the tree. But just as he was about to walk back, he heard what sounded like a meow. "You guys hear that?" He asked.
"Hear what?" Galen asked as he and Nicole joined him. Derek held up his hand, silencing them as they listened for the sound again. Another meow echoed throughout the jungle.
"Am I the only one that's hearing a cat?" asked Derek.
"Sounds like it's in trouble!" Nicole said before running off in the direction of the meowing. Derek and Galen glanced at one another before running after her. The trio ran until they came to a clearing and saw the source of the sound in front of them.
They gasped in shock when they saw twelve Falconflies flying around a small creature stuck in the mud. The meowing was being made by the creature, as it struggled to escape while the wasps stung the ground around it.
The Falconfly is the size of a small bird of prey such as a kestrel, and has a very powerful set of jaws. Its forelimbs have small hooks which allow it to grab prey, whilst its hindlimbs have very sharp, lance-like tips which can be used to impale or stab prey. Like other wasps, it also has a venomous sting.
"Oh my God! We have to save her!" Nicole exclaimed before rushing towards the animal.
"Nicole, wait! Don't go out on your own!" Derek said before running after her.
"Right behind ya!" said Galen, pulling out his faithful slingshot.
Sliding across the ground, Nicole reached the creature in distress and grabbed hold of it. Pulling with all her might, she freed it from the mud. Lying on her back and holding it up. "Gotcha!"
But then a Falconfly dived down with its lance-like limbs out to kill her and the creature. She rolled out of the way, and Derek ran in to swing and cut off the lower half of the abdomen. The wasp shrieked in pain as it flew around before falling and dying.
"We've gotta go, Nicole!" Derek held out his hand, and she grabbed it. He pulled her up as the eleven remaining Falconflies were about to attack. Before they could, Galen hit them with stones.
"Take that, buzz brains! Go sting someone you own size!" Galen exclaimed.
"Stop pissing them off and run!" Derek shouted as the two humans ran past Galen and into the forest.
"Galen out! Peace!" Galen said, jumping backwards into the bushes and following after his friends.
Derek and Nicole kept running until they were deep in the forest, far away from the Falconflies. Once they stopped, Derek let go of Nicole's hand, dropped his spear, and leaned forward to put his hands on his knees. He panted heavily for a moment as Nicole looked at him. "Dude, are you okay?"
"Yeah...Yeah..." Derek panted with wide eyes, trying to catch his breathing for a moment. "I'm just...I really hate wasps!"
"Wait..." Nicole stared at him for a moment before giggling and then laughing. "You're scared of wasps, aren't you? Dude, I've seen you kill, like, a ton of dangerous animals in this world, and you're telling me you're scared of a little wasp."
"Hey! I'm not scared!" Derek yelled at her with an embarrassed blush that covered most of his face. "I...I just don't like them, and there was nothing little about those things" he said, looking away and crossing his arms.
"Well, at least we saved this little fella," Nicole said with a smile as she took a look at the creature. This made her let out a high pitched scream that startled Derek and made him look at the animal, which turned out to be a cross between a cat and a pig.
At that moment, Galen arrived immediately after hearing Nicole's scream. "What's wrong? Are you stung? Quick, Derek!" He picked up Derek's spear off the ground and raised it up. "We'll have to amputate!"
Derek grabbed the spear and lifted it up. Pulling Sprig up with it before he let it go. "Chill, Galen. Everyone's fine," he said.
"He's right, nothing's wrong. But look, this animal looks exactly like my cat Athena from back home," Nicole said, taking out her phone and showing the two boys a photo of her cat. And the resemblance was strong to the black cat with white stripes along its torso and a white chest.
The animal meowed before purring.
"Huh. Now that I see it, they do look alike," Derek said, rubbing his chin.
"I love my cat more than anything in the world," Nicole said, putting her phone away. "She was irreplaceable. But now I found a replacement. Let's take her home with us!"
"But we don't even know what it is." Derek said gesturing to the animal.
Galen made his way over with his book and said, "Arrighty, what do we have here?"
"So, what is it?" Nicole asked whilst hugging the little critter.
Galen kept looking through his book until he landed on a page which held an animal which strongly resembled the one they saved. Much to his horror, the monkey knew exactly what it was.
"Geez! It's a Piglion!" He yelped out in terror, tripping over a root as he backed away from the animal.
"A Piglion?" Derek asked, curious and wary about the new creature, "Are they dangerous?"
"Oh, very dangerous!" Galen replied. Then he raced up towards Nicole's hand and pulled at it "Run guys! Let's move it!"
"Hey, Galen! It's just a little Piglion," said the Taiwanese girl, who was obviously not afraid of this animal since she never really seen one before. Yet this one was probably still only a cub, and out by itself, no less. "Look at her. She's so cute, lost and all alone! Can we keep her, please?"
"Nicky, are you NUTS!?" Derek yelled right at her. "We're talking about a Piglion; Piglions eat other animals like us from what I've heard!" Then he started listing the featured this creature has, "Shifty little eyes, sharp fangs, massive claws!" He then went in front of his friend to try and talk some sense into her. "She's a predator!"
"But she's so little." Nicole said, whilst still holding the little Piglion.
"She's gonna get bigger!"
"Maybe she'll be on our side. Come on! I really want to give it a shot. Please?"
Derek and Galen glanced at one another before looking back at Nicole. Neither of them were so sure about taking home a Piglion cub. "Eh, I don't know, Nicky. That's still a wild animal," Galen said, pointing at the black and white baby.
"Yeah, I'm not sure bringing a lost cub home is a good idea," Derek said, putting his spear on his shoulder.
"Pshh. That's ridiculous," Nicole said, shrugging off her concerns as she snuggled the cub to her face. "My cat back home was a stray before I adopted her. She too was nothing but skin and bone."
"But Athena was a cat, Nicky. This is a Piglion cub," Derek said, trying to make her see reason.
"And cat is in the word Piglion." Nicole retorted.
"No it's not for the love of... Nicky, we can't take it home! We don't know if that thing's mother will come looking for it," Derek said, pointing to the creature.
Nicole gasped dramatically and covered the cub's ears. "Don't call Athena II a thing," she said to him.
Derek laughed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh my God, she named it," he whispered under his breath before he asked her, "Do you even know how to take care of a Piglion?"
"It'll just be like taking care of Athena I," Nicole insisted, still holding onto the cub. "All it takes is love and patience and... love."
"You said 'love' twice," Galen said.
"Please, Derek?" Nicole asked as she hugged the cub and gave her friend a show of her big puppy eyes. Being a dog owner and lover, Derek never stood a chance whenever his dog gave him his puppy eyes. But Nicole's puppy eyes showed him an adorable side to her that he's yet to see. He tried to maintain his frown as he looked at her. Not wanting to give in to the temptation of her cuteness.
In the end, he sighed. "The things I do for love. Alright..."
Nicole suddenly ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," she yelled excitedly.
"But she's your responsibility, Nicky," Derek told her after she let him go. He then looked down at Galen. "What do you say, buddy?"
"Let me predict the future for a moment" Galen said as pointed his finger at the cub's face. "That cute little face is gonna eat one of us someday and I'm not..."
The cub starts staring with big puppy dog eyes and purrs.
"Errr... don't fall for it" said Galen, whilst trying to resist the little one's cuteness until Nicole brought the cub up to Galen's face, and the cute little creature licked him.
"Oh, too late. Sold!" Galen said immediately after. "I have big plans for you, uncle Galen is gonna teach ya how to fetch bananas and then we're gonna..."
"Whoa there monkey-boy, we don't even know if she's an omnivore" Derek stated.
"It's settled." After setting the Piglion cub on the ground, Nicole took the spear from Derek and held it like a wand or a sword. "I hereby dub thee 'Athena II,'" she announced, knighting her new pet as a ray of light shined on the cub. She then handed back the weapon to Derek. "Come on, girl. Let's go home."
The trio turned and started walking away, but stopped when they realized that Athena II wasn't following them. They looked at Athena II, who just stood there for a moment before lying down and falling asleep.
"Uh, is it broken?" Galen asked.
"Well, she is a Piglion, I guess they don't do much" Derek said.
"Hold up. I got an idea," Nicole said, taking off her backpack and opening it. Derek and Galen waited as she rummaged through it before pulling out a pink mouse toy. "This worked on Athena I without fail."
Nicole rattled the mouse in front of Athena II, getting the little creature's attention. With a meow, she looked up at the toy and became mesmerized by it. However, Galen did too. Athena II got up and started walking towards Nicole.
"Wow, that actually worked," Derek said with an impressed look.
"That's it girl. You can do it. Come on," Nicole said, before she and Derek started walking away with Athena II following them.
"I want it. Give it to me," Galen said with a possessed voice, following the two humans while reaching out for the mouse.
"Maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad," Derek said, smiling. "But what are we going to do about Yar? You think he'll let you keep Athena?"
"Don't worry. I've got it covered," Nicole said confidently.
...
When they got back to the Boer Farm, Nicole told Galen to wait outside of the house while she and Derek went to talk to Yar. Walking into the kitchen after hearing chopping sounds coming from it, the two humans found the elder monkey chopping a carromelon (mix of carrot and melon) into small bits.
"Hey, Yar," Derek said, casually greeting the elder lemur.
"Hey Yar, old buddy, old pal," she said with a smile, trying to butter him up.
"What do you two want?" Yar asked, already knowing that the two were just coming to him because they wanted something. Having heard that same line from Galen and Liuer before.
"We were just thinking. Doesn't this house feel empty to you?" Nicole asked.
Yar turned his head and looked at the piles and piles of dirty dishes that were needing to be cleaned. "Not especially."
"You know," Derek said with a smile, "sometimes the only thing that you need to liven up a house is to have a pet around. I remember Archie would always be in the kitchen, just waiting for me to drop a piece of food..."
"Great idea, Derek," said Nicole before turning to Yar. "What about we get a pet-" Yar stopped by pointing the cleaver he was using at her.
"Absolutely not! Every time we get one, Galen or Liuer swear they're gonna take care of it!" Yar told the two humans, who were looking at the cleaver the old monkey kept swinging around. "Like this one Squircoon we had, Hemmy. I mean, sure, they were there for all the cuddlin' and the snugglin', but who gets stuck doin' all the work? Good ol' Yar, that's who!" He then started chopping up the carromelon into even smaller pieces as he vented his frustration. "I swear to Semos, whoever brings a fuzzy critter into this house will be on dung duty for a month!"
Derek chuckled nervously before saying, "Well, you're the monkey of the house." He then started backing away with Nicole next to him.
"Damn right I am! I told Hemmy to stay out of the-!" Derek closed the door after he and Nicole made it outside, where Galen was waiting for them. Leaving Yar to continue ranting.
"Well, that was a bust," Derek said.
"Then it's time for Plan B. We're gonna have to sneak Athena II inside," Nicole said.
Derek looked at her with a frown. "How are we going to do that? If Yar finds out about Athena II, we're going to be shoveling Maggie and Ajabu's shit for a month!"
"Hey, guys. Should we be concerned about this?" Sprig asked, before lifting up his left leg. Showing Athena II biting on his leg. It didn't hurt too much, but it did make the young monkey start to be concerned. "I think she might be hungry."
Also concerned for his friend, Derek grabbed Athena II and pulled her off of Galen's leg. "Why'd you do that?" Nicole asked, looking a little upset. "That was called 'play biting.' And it was cute."
"Nicky, I know what play biting is like, and that wasn't play biting," Derek argued before looking at Athena II while still holding her. "Besides, I'm pretty sure she was tasting Galen." To prove his point, Athena II licked her lips.
"That's ridiculous. Trust me. I know cats," Nicole said, shrugging off the concern the two boys had.
"Again, this isn't a cat, Nicole. Athena II is a Piglion," Derek said with a scowl.
Nicole shrugged. "Same thing."
"No, it's not!"
"Just help me sneak her into the basement," Nicole said, taking Athena II from him.
Derek groaned in annoyance, but also in defeat. " Fine. Galen, you distract Yar and keep his eyes off the basement door while Nicole and I take the cub down there."
Galen saluted before going over to the door. Slowly opening it, he looked inside and saw Yar was still ranting on about having to take care of the family's last pet. Seeing that he wasn't going to come into the living room and facing away from the front door, Galen signaled for the humans to come inside. Derek entered the house first, opened the door to the basement, and then signalled for Nicole to come.
Just as she was about to reach the basement door, Athena suddenly sneezed.
"What's that?" Yar turned around while still holding the cleaver.
Derek, Nicole, and Athena were gone. Then Galen popped up in front of his caretaker with a nervous smile. "Uh, hey, Grandpa, what's the worst thing Hemmy ever did, since we're talking about Hemmy?"
"Heh! How can I even choose?" Yar exclaimed, going off on another rant. Unbeknownst to him, Derek and Nicole were hiding behind the couch with Nicole covering the cub's mouth. When Yar looked away, the two crawled over to the basement door and opened it. Nicole crawled down into it first, before Derek followed her and shut the door.
Derek sighed in relief before walking down the steps to join Nicole and her Piglion. "That was close," he said, sitting down on his bed.
"Eh, it wasn't so bad. At least we got inside," Nicole said with a shrug. Derek rolled his eyes in annoyance before walking up the stairs to do his chores. Hopefully, he won't come to regret this.
...
Back in the forest, the sun had already set on the valley near the same area where Nicole and Derek saved Athena II, a large shadow was cast over a hole in some rocks when a large Piglion came over to investigate.
It had white fur with a large black patch on it's neck, along with a black underbelly, black stripes on it's hindquarters, a short white mane along it's back, nine feet long from snout to tailbone, massive paws, and a good set of teeth.
It sniffed the small opening for a moment before making a loud roaring sound that echoed throughout the forest, it stopped to listen before letting out another roar.
...
When the next morning came, Derek was awakened by the sound of something cuckooing like a rooster. Opening his eyes a little, Derek groaned. "Another day..." he sighed before trying to sit up.
However, as he did, Derek felt something on his arm.
"What the?" He pulled his arm hard, and Athena II who was on his arm moved. Derek was then tackled by the small cub.
"Oh my God!" Frank yelled with his hands shielding his face. Freaked out by the bombardment of licks and scratches he received from the cub. But he managed to get her off
"Nicole?" He ran over to her bed and threw the covers off. Finding his girl companion sleeping with her pillow covering her eyes. Derek pushed her pillow up and away from her eyes. "Hey, wake up, wake up!" He yelled, shaking her with his other hand.
"Huh?" Nicole woke up to see Derek looking down at her with an annoyed look on his face.
"Anne, why was Athena sleeping on my arm and not with you?" He asked with annoyance.
"Hmm? Yeah, totally," she said with a tired smile. "Athena II just had a bit of a rough first night indoors." Derek let her go, and she rolled back over on her side to get some more sleep. However, in doing so, revealed cuts and scratches on the left side of her face and back.
"Eesh, Nicky. Athena scratched you up real bad," Derek said with a frown. "Why didn't you wake me up if you were having trouble?" He then slapped himself on the head with his eyes widening in disbelief, gesturing to the claw mark-covered room. "How did I even sleep through all of this?!"
"You were pretty out of it once you were finished with work, so I didn't want to wake you up," Nicole said with her eyes closed.
Derek was a little surprised by this, and it made him smile a little. But then he looked around the room again and started to become a little worried. "Yar is definitely gonna notice something," he said.
"Oh, this is nothing. We just have to keep an eye on her while she's adjusting," Nicole told him before pulling out Athena I's mouse toy, and Athena II walked over. She played with the cub, and Athena II tried reaching for the toy. "Isn't that right, Athena II?"
Feeling a little skeptical, Derek turned towards Athena II. The cub looked at Derek, and her pupils slowly started to widen and then cover the yellow of her eyes. Reflecting the image of Derek inside both of them as she drooled. Like she was hungry.
A little nervous, Derek grinned slightly and sweated a little. "This is still fine," he said, before he was tackled by Athena II again, knocking him onto the ground. "Ah, my face!"
"That's just how she says 'I love you,'" Nicole said before picking up and kissing Athena II on the head. Derek groaned in annoyance as he sat up.
That was the beginning of a long few days of Derek and Nicole trying to keep Athena II out of sight from the rest of the Boer family. Thinking it would be better if the cub had something to hang out on, Derek built her a cat tree from logs, branches, and boxes. It seemed to make Athena II happy, as she was popping out of one box and then another- somehow. But when Nicole and Derek tried to see where she was in the cat tree, they heard the sound of a meowing from the stairs and saw Athena II opening the door and walking out of the basement.
The two freaked out before Derek ran up the stairs to try and catch her. Athena II entered the kitchen as Yar was trying to make a sandwich and ate it the moment he wasn't looking. Derek quickly grabbed her and ran out of the kitchen before Yar could turn around. Leaving him baffled as to where his sandwich went.
Later that day, Derek and Nicole went back to the basement after a hard day of work and were disgusted to see a chewed up rodent on the girls bed. Athena II turned to them and meowed. While Derek was still grossed out, Nicole thought it was cute. Thinking it was a gift.
However, things almost went bad when Athena II tried to eat Liuer. Using her cat-like body, she stalked towards the monkey with her mouth open. But Nicole quickly grabbed her and ran before Liuer, who was reading a book, noticed.
When the two friends returned from working the field, Nicole cringed but smiled when she saw that Athena II brought her another 'gift.' This time in the form of a large pile of dead and mangled rodents.
Derek was sharpening his knife when he heard the sound of laughing. Looking up, he saw Nicole playing with Athena II. Spinning around while holding her Piglion cub. Derek's scowl turned into a smile. He hasn't seen Nicole this happy in a long time, especially since coming to this world. The young boy understands how she was feeling. They both were far from home in a world of whimsicalness and savagery. Having Athena II with her was like having her cat, a piece of her home, with her.
Athena II was a troublemaker, but he had to admit, she's pretty darn cute. Just like Nicole.
Derek's eyes widened, and he blushed brightly. Where the hell did that come from!? Did he really just think that Nicole was cute? Well, she was. He shook his head and quickly got back to sharpening his weapon. Trying to ignore those thoughts. Nicole was happy. That's all that mattered.
Little did they know it all be coming to an end soon when they heard a loud roar in the distance.
...
On the third day of having Athena II with them, Derek was out in the field sweating from hard work as he picked carrots from the ground. His red jacket was hanging on a fence post, leaving him with his dark t-shirt.
Derek grabbed another carrot by the leaves and grunted as he pulled as hard as he could, until the vegetable was pulled out of the ground. Panting from exhaustion, he threw the carrot over onto the wheel barrel he was using. It landed on the other carrots that were there.
Standing up, Derek wiped the sweat from his brow and turned his head to look at the setting sun. A moment later, an apple was offered to him. "Need little something for your troubles?," Yar said with a smile.
Gratefully taking the apple, Derek bit into it. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was. "Thanks, Yar."
The two watched the sunset before Derek saw a group of Falconflies coming in their direction.
"Oh crap!" Derek reached for his Slasher spear and grabbed it from the ground. Ready for a fight. But the insects just flew over them and went over to some giant flowers. Once there, they started pollinating and collecting the nectar from the flower.
"Wait, what? Why didn't they attack us?" Derek said, confused.
"Boy, just because they're big and scary doesn't mean that they want to kill you," Yar said with a voice of wisdom. "They're just animals, and sometimes animals have to fight when something threatens them or their family."
Derek took Yar's words to heart as he looked back at the wasps as they worked. He smiled at them and leaned against the wheel barrel. "I guess you're right. Just like us," he said. Yar nodded. However, that got him thinking, and he turned his head towards the elder lemur. "Hey, Yar, if that's the case, why would a bunch of bugs attack a little Piglion cub?"
Yar put his hand under his chin. "Well, that depends. Falconflies wouldn't attack a young Piglion unless it was on it's own away from its mother. They're dangerous carnivores that start off as cute and cuddly cubs before they turn into a vicious monster."
Derek stared at Yar with a look of shock, but then terror started to settle in his chest. Derek and Nicole found Athena II when the wasps were attacking her.
Sweeting droplets the size of bullets, Derek pulled the collar of his shirt and laughed nervously. "Uh, the cubs wouldn't happen to be abandoned by mothers at times would they?"
"No. They'd never leave their little ones, unless they're going out hunting and the cubs need to be somewhere safe. But if they're ever taken or worse, the mother doesn't stop until her cubs are found and whatever took them is hunted down." Derek gasped in horror. Which didn't go noticed by Yar, and he looked at the boy suspiciously. "Wait, why do you ask?"
"Oh my God, NICKY!" Derek turned and bolted for the house with his spear in hand. They were all in danger because of him, Nicole, and Galen.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Anne was eating a heavy amount of food after a long day of working and keeping Athena II away from the rest of the family. Just then, the door swung open, and Derek rushed into the kitchen.
"Nicole! Galen!" Derek yelled. The sudden entry startled Nicole and got her full attention. He ran to the table and looked at her with big eyes filled with fear. "Nicky, where's Galen?!"
"Whoa! Derek, he's just gone off into the forest with Liuer. What's going on?" Nicole asked, confused as to why he was freaking out.
"We've made a terrible mistake, and now we're all in danger!" Derek exclaimed, still in a state of panic.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Nicole asked, a little worried after seeing the way Derek was acting scared.
"Nicole, Athena II wasn't-"
"Who's Athena II?" Nicole gasped in shock with her eyes widening. Derek turned around and was met with the sight of Yar standing behind him with a stern expression. "You want that sounds like? It sounds like a pet name! Did you kids sneak a pet in here?" He questioned, pointing an accusatory finger at them.
Nicole laughed nervously. "Wh-What? No! Nooooo, we wouldn't have done that," she said anxiously while Yar gave her a 'are you sure you want to lie?' face.
Derek said, "Yar, we've got find Galen and Liuer right now!"
Suddenly there was a loud yowling that came from below the floor they were standing on. The sound was loud enough to scare some birds outside.
"Kids."
"Yeah?" Derek asked.
"What was that?" Yar asked, turning towards them with a suspicious glare.
"Mmm, basement ghost?" Nicole lied with a shrug.
"Don't be ridiculous. Basement ghosts don't sound anything like that..." At that moment, the reality of the situation sank in for Yar. Now he knew why Derek asked about Piglions. "Oh, my Holy Semos..."
"I'll go deal with Athena. You guys go find Galen and Liuer," Derek said before walking towards the basement door. Spear still in hand.
"Wait, Derek!" Nicole followed him, before Yar followed after them.
Derek opened the door to the basement and started cautiously walking down the stairs. He looked around for Athena II, but then he looked towards Nicole's bed when he reached the bottom of the steps. He and Nicole gasped in shock.
When Nicole last saw Athena, she was sleeping after the teenage girl was played with her, but now she's gone and nowhere to be seen.
Nicole gasped in fear. "Athena, where are you? Baby precious!" She called out for her pet.
"Where could she have gone?" Derek asked, when Yar looked at the two teenagers with his arms crossed.
"So, you brought back a Piglion cub, hmm?" Asked the elderly monkey whilst anger started welling up in him. "You damned fools, do you realise how much danger we're in?"
Derek lowered his head in shame as did Nicole, thinking about what to say next, when Athena II came running out of the hay piles and rushed towards Nicole.
"There you are, precious!" Nicole exclaimed as she picked the small creature up and snuggled her.
Now seeing the cub itself, Yar was in shock. "By Semos, that is a Piglion cub!" Yelled the elderly lemur. "You better have a good explanation for this when this is over!"
"We do, but I don't understand why this is in some way putting everyone in danger" Nicole said, whilst trying to grasp what's happening.
"Athena II was never abandoned in the first place Nicky, she was waiting for the return of..." Then the loud roar was heard again before Derek could finish.
"That's a Piglion roar, isn't?" Nicole asked, and Yar slowly nodded his head. "But why does he sound so mad?"
Derek pinches the ridge of nose as he lets out a exasperated sigh. "That's not a 'he' Nicky, it's a 'she'. That's Athena II's mother. She's looking for her" Derek explained, as the horror slowly sank into the teenage girl. "And she'll go as far as hunt down those who took her cub and that's us."
"Oh my god" Nicole now realising the situation begins to shake uncontrollably before yelling, "Galen and Liuer! They're still out there in the forest and that thing is probably hunting them as we speak!"
"She's right! Come on you two, we've got to save them and return this cub!" Yar firmly stated.
"Like now!" Derek yelled, grabbing Nicole's hand and pulling her along as they and Yar started running for the forest to save Liuer and Galen from the wrath of a ferocious predator.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Galen and Liuer were tracking a blue Rhino beetle: the prize among insects. While playing a round of bug-fight, Galen had accidentally stepped on the beetle they were using, so Liuer suggested that the two could find a new beetle to use for fighting, given Galen's good eyesight and Liuer's sense of hearing being one of the strongest in Hathor. They had managed to track it from the rainforest all the way to the savannahs on the border. As it turned, however, the duo hid behind an Acacia tree, knowing that it could fly away at any second if it saw them. As it resumed its walk, the red monkey and six-eared macaque resumed the hunt, when suddenly, the former heard the sound of startled birds flying from the long grass behind them.
Startled, Galen turned around and asked, "Hmm? Hello?"
"Something wrong?" Liuer asked.
"I thought I heard something..." Galen muttered, looking for any signs of trouble. Seeing nothing, he shrugged and said, "Guess not."
Liuer helped Galen over the log, and they resumed the hunt. Just when they finally had the beetle cornered, Liuer's focus switched from the beetle to something he could see on the horizon.
"What's that in the grass?" He asked, pointing to what he was seeing. Through the long grass in the distance, Galen could make out what Liuer spotted: something was indeed following them, and he knew exactly what it was by the shape of it. Galen screamed in terror while the Piglion from before charged straight at him, claws unsheathed; fangs bared. The two soon bolted back into the rainforest, trying to get away from the predator. Liuer looked to his friend and said, "Galen, hang on! I'll get help!" He then rushed off and shouted, "Derek, Nicole, Grandpa, help!"
Hearing his simian friend's voice, Derek looked around and asked, "Liuer?"
All the while, Galen continued to flee, with the Piglion in hot pursuit. She chased him around the base of a great tree, as he tried to lose her. Liuer, meanwhile, was lucky he was able to climb trees and swing from vines.
Derek, Nicole and Yar darted across the forest floor, shouting out, "Liuer! Galen!"
Finally, Liuer managed to jump down from the mahogany tree he swung to, and found the group.
"Guys! You gotta help! Something's chasing us!" He shouted, scared out of his wits.
Out of breath from running, Yar exclaims, "I know! That's why we're here!" All of a sudden, Galen darted out of the underbrush and got himself stuck in the arch of one of the tree's roots, panicked beyond reason. Nicole asked their friend, "Galen! Hey, what's goin' on?"
"SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" yelled the terrified young monkey.
"Huh?" Yar leapt up on the root and saw the Piglion running straight towards them, ready to kill, "Whoa!" He leapt down and told the human girl, "Nicole, I'll push; you pull!"
"Gotcha!" Nicole grabbed Galen by the hands, and began pulling as hard as she could to get her simian friend unstuck. "C'mon Galen!" She muttered.
Yar leapt down and began pushing his grandsons hindquarters out of the root. As he pushed he asked, "Geez, why do I always have to save your AAAAAHHHH!" At that moment, the predator was close enough to pounce at them. Yet before the Piglion could finish them off, Derek leapt over the tree root and yelled out his Tarzan cry at the beast, startling her. A fight broke out between the human and Piglion. Nicole and Liuer looked on with determination, hoping that Derek would come out alright and scare this predator away.
"Yes!" Nicole exclaimed, glad that Derek was able to save them in the nick of time.
Yar only looked at Galen and told him, "Don't worry, boy. We're here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay!" He then looked up and told Derek, "Get her! Strike her head!" Yet Derek's instincts took over. He was in tune to fighting to save his friends. As the Piglion slashed his head but missed, he retaliated. Yar then shouted, "Go for the jugular! The jugular!"
Then he went back down to Galen (whose now unstuck) and Liuer and said "Come on boys, let's go!" The monkeys didn't waste anytime following after their Grandfather whilst he ran back to the house.
Athena's mother lashed out at Derek with her long, sharp claws. Derek ducked under the attack and rushed at the beast. But she swatted him away with her paw. Derek yelled in pain as his white shirt was cut and had scratch marks on his chest. And landed hard on the ground and got up before the Piglion leapt at him, but missed when the human boy dodged the attack.
Getting back up to his feet, Derek got ready to resume the fight. "Alright, momma. You ready to lose all 9 lives?!" He yelled in anger.
The Piglion roared at him.
"Hey, Athena II's mom! Over here!"
Derek looked to the left and was shocked to see Nicole, with the mouse toy and waving it above her head. When the Piglion turned her head towards Nicole, Derek started to get scared. "Nicky! Are you crazy?!"
But it was too late. The female beast turned from the young man and charged at Nicole.
Nicole said, "Oh, crud." She turned and rushed out towards the savannah with Athena II's mother chasing after her.
"Nicky!" Frank yelled as the Piglion smashed through the brambles, going after his friend. Derek ran as fast as he could behind the Piglion as it started to run after Nicole.
Jumping up, Derek grabbed onto the backside of Athena II's mother and started climbing onto her back. Once he was on her back, the boy looked to where Nicole was going and gasped.
"NICKY! LOOK OUT!" He yelled.
Nicole stopped in her tracks. Just inches away from running off a cliff. With her safe for now, Derek started stabbing the back of the predator and then stabbed her right front leg and cut downwards. The Piglion squealed in pain before crashing forward on the ground. Derek jumped off before she crashed and ran over to Nicole.
"Nicole! What the hell were you thinking!?" He yelled at her. "You could have-"
He was interrupted by the sound of the wounded predator meowing angrily. Turning around to see the injured predator getting back onto her paws, Derek got in front of Nicole to protect her.
"Stay back!" Derek shouted, swinging his combat knife. The Piglion growled and stared at the two humans. Ready to pounce.
Until Athena II rushed out the bushes and leapt in between the two parties, facing her mother. The larger female ceased her growling when noticing her cub, safe and sound.
The cub approached the adult predator and like any mother, she nuzzled her little one with affection, just as two more cubs appeared from the bushes and started play fighting with Athena II.
One was largely white with black on its head, back, tail and a white snout. Whilst the other one is all-white with numerous black spots and patches running from the middle of its forehead, down the back and covering its tail.
The two humans watched in awe as their little pet was reunited with her mother and siblings, making Nicole realise that she wasn't going to keep her.
"Derek, I'm so sorry," said Nicole, looking down at the ground with a guilty expression. She looked at the Piglion cub whilst she played with her siblings and had a few licks from her mother. "This is all my fault. I thought I could change her. Making her be like Athena. But I guess I was wrong. She's a wild animal that belongs with her family."
Athena II started coming closer to them. Purring and meowing. "Nicky, it's okay. I know you miss your cat, but it's time to let Athena II go," Derek said sympathetically, looking back at her.
Nicole looked down at the toy mouse, and her mind started flashing back to all the good time they had with Athena II. But Derek was right, and this cub wasn't her cat. She was going to see her cat again. But not today. She closed her eyes as she cried before looking at Athena II.
"It's time for you to go! Go on, take it."
Nicole threw the toy over to little Athena, then the cub picked the toy up in her mouth and walked back to her family. Athena II and her siblings approached their mother and then climbed upon her back, before turning to leave the two humans.
Covering her mouth as she gazed on in sadness, Nicole fell on her knees. Derek walked up to Nicole's side and knelt down beside her. Placing an arm around her for support. The two watched as Athena II's mother disappear into the undergrowth, not before Athena II looked back at the teenage girl that took her in and meowed farewell.
Nicole sobbed a little before saying, "Sayonara, Athena II."
"I'm sorry you couldn't make it work out, Nicole," Derek said. "If you want, I can go and find the toy and get it back." Beginning to sob again, Nicole threw her arms around Derek and pulled him into a hug, which he returned. Whispering to her that it would be okay, he too was going miss the cute little Piglion as much as she is.
...
"And guess who's cleaning up after the pet! Yar, that's who!" Yar ranted as he paced back and forth in front of Galen and Liuer.
At that moment, Nicole and Derek came walking back into the house. Safe and sound. "Hey," Nicole said in a melodic depressed voice.
"Nicole, Derek, you two are okay!" Galen cheerfully exclaimed.
"Tell me that thing is gone!" Liuer pointed his finger at them.
"Yeah, it's gone back to it's family," Derek said, looking at Nicole with a sad look.
Nicole sighed and grabbed her arm. "I'm so sorry, you guys," she said to the Boers, and even to Derek again. "I had no right to put you all in danger, no matter how much I miss my cat. I hope you understand."
Derek placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled softly. Showing her that he understood. Galen shared this same smile, while Liuer looked blankly at them before smiling himself. However, Yar looked ready to tear her a new one. "Understand?" He asked, walking towards the two humans, before throwing his head up. "Understand!"
Derek and Nicole looked a little nervous. But then Yar looked at them with big eyes filled with bottled up tears.
"I miss Hemmy with all my heart and soul!" Yar started crying a river of tears before walking over to Nicole and hugging her legs. Nicole looked at Derek with a look that asked what she should do.
"Just let it happen," Derek said, patting Yar's head as the old lemur continued crying his heart out. "I think he needs this."
...
Back at the house the very next morning, Derek came down into the basement while holding something behind his back. He found Nicole still sweeping up what was left of the cub's mess from the walls and floors.
"Hey Nicky," said Derek, wearing his red jacket again. Nicole turned to him before he threw something at her.
She caught it and was surprised when she saw it was her cat's toy mouse.
"I found back near the savannah and figured you want it back," Derek said, blushing while looking away.
Nicole smiled and held the toy close to her. "Thanks, D," she said before going over to her bed and sitting down on it.
Still holding something behind his back, Derek asked, "Are you holding up okay?"
Nicole sighed and leaned back on her bed. "Yeah, I guess. Just goes to show ya. You can't take some wild animal you found in the woods, have it live in your basement, and think everything's gonna be okay."
Derek smiled and walked over to sit next to her. "Maybe you're right. But then again, the Boers took us in," he said. Nicole looked around at both of their living quarters and smiled.
Derek then started blushing brightly before coughing into his fist. "Hey, um, well I...um." Derek struggled to form the proper words. In the end, he held out the thing he was hiding from Nicole. "Here."
Nicole looked and was surprised and touched to see a well made a stuffed doll of Athena II with button eyes. She took it from Derek and stared at it.
"I-I knew how much the little guy meant to you, so I wanted you to have something to remember her. Galen helped me collect Athena II's hairballs to make the fur," Derek said, blushing with embarrassment. He didn't know why he was blushing, all he was doing was giving something to Nicole.
When Nicole didn't show any reaction to the stuffed animal, Derek started to doubt himself. "You hate it, don't you," he said before sighing. "This was a bad idea. I'll take it back-"
"I LOVE IT!" Nicole cried as she suddenly hugged the stuffed animal and Derek. "Thank you."