My Dream

Interlude: Be Prepared

"So... these are just animals, not beastmen?" Gwen wondered.

She was watching an army of hyenas march past a large pillar. Their attention was riveted to the lion standing on it. Gwen noticed that there was a scar going over his eye.

"Animals are marching?" She asked.

"A shiny new era is tip-toeing nearer." The scarred lion sang.

A hyena, looking like a female crept up to him. "And where do we feature?" She demanded.

"Just listen to teacher." The lion replied. "We're going to kill Mufasa. And Simba, too. Then I will be king!" He vowed.

"Great idea!" The hyenas cheered. "Long live the king! Long live the king!"

"My teeth and ambitions are bared." The lion purred. "Be prepared!"

"No!!" Gwen screamed. "You're going to kill people!?"

She charged towards the lion, dodging the hyenas. "This isn't how you do it! If you want to be a leader, you work hard for it! You can't sabotage others, you only hurt yourself!"

The ground began to melt into ink beneath her feet. "No, no, please!" She begged, falling below.

***

Gwen landed in the inky abyss. She looked around. A new location was starting to grow. There looked like piles of sand. There were pillars that looked covered in scratch marks. It had a kind of tribal feel to it. There was another throne forming in the middle of the area.

Something grabbed her shoulders from behind. "My prey... you've been snooping around where you don't belong."

"You will never become a king." Gwen spat.

The person snarled, hands coming up to choke her. "How dare you speak that way to your king!?"

Gwen was twirled around to face a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Gwen could see feathers around his neck, and could vaguely make out a corset.

With a horrifying show of strength, he threw her down into the ink. "Watch your back prey!" He snarled at her.

***

"Hey! I'm here for my lesson!"

"Oh god, she's back."

"Why did you offer lessons if you didn't want to teach her?"

"Shuddup! Alright, brat, You wanna learn? Let's go over transformations. We'll make a game out of it."

"Hey! You turned me into a mouse!"

"Yep. Let's play cat and mouse. I wanna be the cat. Better start running!"

***

Gwen jolted awake. "This mirror..." She looked around. "Che'nya?"

"Your friend left a little bit ago." Moe said, floating into the room. "He wanted to get back to school before anyone noticed he was gone."

"You have another two hours before you have to be up." Larry pointed out. "Why don't you get some more sleep?"

"Good idea." Gwen nodded. "I wonder what he was worried about." She tried to remember what he had been saying, but she was so sleepy...

***

Huh. This is a first. Usually I contact you, not the other way around. What's wrong? That look on your face...

Che'nya, what's going to happen to Gwen?!