Young Writers Society

Ashanti padded back and forth across the fake forest floor. Little two-legged beasts stared into her cage, their grimy faces pressed against the thick glass. Ashanti let them off with a warning snarl. When the little beasts began to beat on the class, she turned quickly, and threw herself into the glass, all three of the beasts screaming and running to their mother. Ashanti gazed into the woman's eyes, a challenge. When the woman looked away, the corner of Ashanti's lips curled into a delicate smile.

"Oh how fierce you are, scaring the young ones," the baboon from the cage beside Ashanti's called, his blue-red nose wrinked in a teasing smirk. Ashanti turned her gaze up to him.

"Shut your mouth you human-raised monkey." Ashanti snarled, Rafi screeching a laugh.

"Must you two argue all the time?" One of the giant land tortoises, in Ashanti's pen, Fran, sighed, nibbling on some celery. She was dozens of years old, and still kicking. Ashanti smiled at the old she-tortise, unable to get angry at her.

"Yes, you heard her, wild one, calm those little kitty bones of yours." At that, Ashanti snarled again.

"Just you wait you stupid primate. I'll get out of here, and you'll be regretting the way you treated me, for I'll only take Fran with me, and you'll be left here to be oggled at by those two-legged monsters." Ashanti snarled, her spotted pelt rippling with anger.

"Oh, when pigs fly you kitty cat." Rafi retaliated, glaring as his lips raised over his long fangs in a snarl.

A flash of orange and black ripped through the forest like a speeding bullet. It ran through ponds and rivers, bushes and flowers only to be chased all the way by the two-legged beasts. The humans shot at it and yelled out all kinds of words.
The animal almost got a way, until a huge rock blocked its path. Simon turned around and gave out a spine-chilling hiss, as the humans cornered it from every angle.

"You want some? Come get some",he said as he paced back and forth, eyeing every two-legged beast he saw.

One of the humans aimed their gun at the tiger and he jumped up and slapped it out of his hands. The other beasts rushed in from everywhere, poking and jabbing it with the butt of theyre weapons. The tiger hit one of them, stunning him as he fell to the ground. Another jumped from behind the bushes, BAM, out cold. There was one human, but he was different from the rest. Tall, and strongly built, with nothing but a large knife in his hand. "Come on you filthy beast!", he shouted.

The man ran and charged at the tiger, and the tiger did the same. But before anyone made contact, the animal fell to the ground. Something had been shot into his right leg.

"Wha...what the.." Everything started spinning in circles. Simon started to wobble in his footsteps, then he hit the ground with a thud. Out cold.

"Lights out big boy.", said the human as he chuckled with satisfaction. "Lights out."

The rushing forest, the calling birds. A young Ashanti flew across the forest floor, a smile wide on her face. "It's over here!" A voice suddenly screamed, Ashanti skidding to a stop. Her mother stopped beside her, ears perked in alarm.

"What's that sound Mommy?" The same young Ashanti asked, ears pinned against her head in fear. Suddenly, beasts walking on two legs, flew from the bushes, wielding long, dangerous-looking barrels. Ashanti coiled against her mother’s side, hissing long and hard as the men. One of them smirked, folding the barrel in half while slipping small, round things into it.

“We’ll take the small one into the states. The big one though… well, her pelt’ll be valuable.” The man raised his gun to Ashanti’s mother, who curled herself around Ashanti and rasped her head for the last time.

BOOM!

Ashanti shot from her dozing spot on top of the fallen tree trunk in her pen, her eyes wide with shock. Her breathing was hitched, and her heartbeat was erratic. She sunk her claws into the soft ground, and padded over to the small pond, taking generous laps of water before wading into the water.

SLAM!

She jumped at least two feet out of the water, and spun around, eyes wide as she faced the entrance to her pen. “Get in there!” One of the two-leggers screeched, prodding a large cat with the shocking stick. Ashanti flinched at the mere thought of it.

A huge, orange and white cat with various black stripes snarled, and fought his way from going into the pen, snarling and flailing his giant, clawed paws out at the humans. Ashanti, bemused by his fierce fighting, took the opportunity to walk out of the deep water and pad her way over. She arched an eyebrow… well… raised the fur above her eye. The zookeeper smirked and gave the cat one last prod, the electric shock on maximum. Ashanti followed the striped cat as he hissed and flew a couple feet back, landing on his side. The zookeeper looked weakly at Ashanti.

“I know he’s not of your kind girl, but he’ll be out the second we make a pen for him.” The second? Making a single cage for this crapped up place could take weeks, months even.

Ashanti nodded her head one and padded over to the growling big cat, looking down at his chest, where a little bit of fur was burnt away. “They got you good, didn’t they?” She smiled weakly, moving her gaze from his scorched fur to his face, smiling apologetically. “I’m Ashanti, the turtle is Fran,” she noticed Rafi looking into her pen, attentive, “and the baboon’s Rafi. You are?” She sat down, and curled her tail around her paws, smiling the same apologetic smile.

He looked wild. Feral even, as if he’d just came from his home. Surely the zoo wouldn’t allow an animal of this age, with no human experience, into a cage with other animals he could probably kill without a problem. Ashanti’s pelt prickled at the thought, but she shook it off. certainly, if he had even a little emotion, he wouldn’t attack like he was poised to do.

Simon struggled to get up, still dazed and confused from the previous dart. He was aching all over as the electricity and static surged once more throughout his body. Get up, he told himself. He placed one paw under his body and gave a heaving push, as the rest of his body followed. He winced in pain as his muscles recovered from the shock. On all fours now, yet he still had a wobble in his step. For the next couple of seconds, his head bobbed around trying to shake off the vertigo.

He slowly opened his eyes, but his vision was still blurred at the time. He caught a glimpse of the outline of another creature in the cage with him. His vision started to clear at that point. Now with his eyes wide open, he was fully aware at what he was staring at. Golden fur with large speckles of black all over her body. Her eyes a yellow-green, as green as the brush he distantly remembers running through. Yes she was covered in dirt, and incased in the scent of the two-legged beast, but yet she was strangely attractive.

"Where...where am I?", he said, huffing and puffing, trying to gain some breath. You could still smell the burnt fur that quickly filled the air.

"You're in..a zoo.",said the voice from across the cage. Her voice was so serene...peaceful, it put his mind at ease a bit.
"A zoo? What the heck is a zoo?!",exclaimed the tiger, his voice now getting a littler raspier and deep.

"It's a place where you come...but you never leave. The humans bring us here, they beat us, they make us sleep in these dirty cages...its madness." Simon's eyes were getting wider, because he had never heard or even imagined the kind of creatures that would do this to animals.

Ashanti held her paw up to show Simon the outside of the cage, and the rest of the zoo. It was pure horror. Caged monkeys, lions, and bears. They were starved and very weak. You could easily see the ribs of the animals. A giraffe was reaching desperately for one leaf that was just out of its reach. Simon's mouth was dropped open in horror.

"What is this place......I don't belong here.", he said. He started pacing back and forth eagerly. His eyes caught a glimpse of one of the jaguar cubs, hiding behind Ashanti. He also saw the other animals in the cage, they all looked hungry and sad, weak and feeble.

"What are we going to do?", Simon said, eyes as sad and as desperate as could be.

Ashanti perked a slight smile on her face, and she looked up into Simon's eyes. "Well...I've been thinking of something."

"Really?" A sliver of hope seemed to resound in the tiger's voice. Juhi was pressing against the back of Ashanti's leg, his curiousness flooding off of him in waves. He had been taken from the wild, just as Ashanti had, and bottle fed until he was old enough to be put into a cage with another animal.

"Well... there are some holes to be filled in, but, it's almost there." She smiled softly as the zookeepers began to bang on the cage walls, whooping and hollering to the animals that it was meal time. Ha, meal time! More like scrap time. Juhi whimpered, and wound his way around Ashanti's leg, his ribcage vibrating with purrs of fear.

The tiger’s gaze adverted to Juhi, and Ashanti wrapped her tail around the young cat, sitting down on her haunches. “This is Juhi. He was taken from the wild, like all of us, when he was barely old enough the protect himself.” She kept sadness from her voice when she thought of her mother.

Ashanti sighed softly and began to pad over to the trap door, which a small piece of meat, and a large slab of it was dropped in, suddenly realizing that she still didn’t know the tiger’s name. I've never seen one that huge! It's obviously for him. She stared at the meat hungrily, and then glanced over at the tiger. “Um…” She didn’t want to just ask, but she would have to. “What is your name by the way?” She chuckled nervously as Juhi padded around her and went to investigate, sniffing around the tiger before walking beside him and gazing up at him with wide, inquisitive eyes.

While waiting for him to reply, Ashanti picked up the smaller piece of meat, and gave it to Juhi, who yelped a happy thanks and ran off from the two to eat his meal.

The last of the scraps were tossed meagerly into the cage. Nothing but a couple slices of meat, and several pieces of limp lettuce. But Simon reached for it anxiously, hoping no one was looking for seconds. It didn't take long for him to finish off the rotten meat, grant it his stomach continued to growl, but he was relieved that he was fed at all. The sounds of smacking and knawing ceased as everyone finished off the'yre 'meals'.

The last of the two-legged beasts walked off. But one of them stopped and gave Simon a glaring look, with a very sinister smirk. What was going on? The human looked down at the clipboard in his hand, using his finger to scan through some papers. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his side and mumbled unknown words to the person on the other side. Then, he finally walked off. There was a sigh of relief, no one knew what was going on and why that beast was eyeing Simon so much.

Simon strolled over to Ashanti, everyone watching him as he did so.

"So um..what's this..thing of yours?", Simon asked. He looked into Ashanti's eyes hoping she would spit out the details as fast as she could.

"Well see, its like this.", she started to say. But her words were cut terribly short. A caravan facility trucks passed by the cage and stopped dead in its tracks. Everyone in the cage..Simon, Ashanti, Juhi, were alert as ever. Men were stacked on the back of the trucks, rifles and electric prodders in hand.

"Oh no!", Simon said. One of the men stepped out of the vehicle door and walked over to the cage. He leaned forward eyeing Simon, the same human that had did so earlier. "Hey you filthy cat, we've got another place for you to stay tonite." The way he sounded sent a chill down Simon's spine, as well as the others.

"Alright boys, pack em' and sack em'." The vehicles were now emptied as every two-legged beast headed for the cage.
Simon was shocked and dismayed at the same time. Then it hit him...the same sting...the same dizzyness. He turned to Ashanti and the others for help, but they were too afraid to rise up against the army of two legs.

"Help PLEASE!", Simon cried out, but to no avail. The cage door quickly slammed open as three of the beasts started to pull Simon out. He struggled as hard as he could, but the anesthesia was rapidly attacking his muscles, brain, everything. His vision began to blur, everything started to go dim.

"Ashanti!", he cried out. "Ashan........." Lights out, again.

Ashanti watched in terror as they wrestled with Tiger (she was going to call him that until he told her his name), everything in her screaming to stop the two-leggers. With a final push, she ran at the exit door, slamming the last man against it as it locked closed. The man beneath her screamed as her claws ripped in, tearing through everything. Clothes, skin, fat, and finally, muscle. The screams deafened her senses as blood filled her nostrils. Two-legger blood. The blood smelled the same of the man three years ago that had ripped her mother's life away.

Fueled by rage, and the thought of losing someone else, Ashanti drug her claws down and dug her teeth into the mans shoulder. More screams, and finally, the cock of a gun. Not just a tranquilizer either. Ashanti drug the man back from the cage door as he bled heavily, and threw herself agaisnt the cage, claws grasping the barbed medal as it dug into her soft pads. She bit down, the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth as she hissed and spat at the two-leggers.

"Listen Shanti, you let us get our friend, and we'll give yours back." Ashanti stepped from the cage gingerly, her tail swinging side to side in agitation. The same man who'd spoke the calming words, opened the cage slowly. The second it happened though, Ashanti threw herself against it. The barbs dug into the man's face as he screeched in sheer pain.

"Maybe she wants the tiger back first." Ashanti snorted, lowering her head and taking a few more steps back to make way. "I've honestly never her seen her this way." The man with a bit of fur around his mouth growled, stroking the grey fur. Ashanti growled again, more sinister.

The men quickly did her bidding, leaving her with a smirk. They drug Tiger back in, his head hitting a rock. At that, Ashanti growled again, the men suddenly more cautious. After laying Tiger down, they grabbed their bleeding friend and scurried out of the cage. Another gun was raised through the holes in the fence, aiming at Ashanti's flank.

"Put the longest anesthetic in there. Let her dream a little bit." The main zookeeper smirked.

SHUNK!

Ashanti's muscles flexed around the dart, tipped with a strong anesthetic. She snarled at the men as her back side hit the ground first, her eyelids feeling heavy. Her front legs folded under her, and her head made a sick contact with the hard ground, her eyes fluttering her into unconsiousness.

"Ashanti, are you ok?" The words echoed deeply through her head. It was as if time had been slowed down. Every movement, every breath, became slower and deeper. Ashanti started seeing white, puffy clouds. Then sun's rays seering through the clouds illuminating everything below. It was beautiful. Other leopards running around, babies, adults, having a peaceful, great time. Then she saw her mother, she was as beautiful as ever. She felt herself running towards her mother smiling, as her mother did the same. Her mother yelled out as happily as ever "Ashanti!" But it started to go dark. A two-legged jumped out of the bushes, smiling widely, as he raised his gun. Her mother turned and looked toward her. "Ashanti!!", she cried out, now looking horrified and scared. "Ashantiiiiiii!"

"Ashanti, are you alright!", exclaimed a very familiar voice. She snapped back into reality. Her head began to clear. She struggled to get up, but was too weak to do so. Her body ached, much more than Simon did. She opened her eyes quickly, breathing heavily, and panting as if there were no oxygen at all.

She looked up, and there was Simon, standing over her worried like a child's mother.

"Oh....its...you.", she said weakly, pausing between words to catch a breath. She tried to get up, but Simon thought otherwise. "No please, lay down..rest. Trust me I know how it feels, I have the scar to prove it.", he said with a smile. Ashanti started to grin, but winced in pain as she did.

"Thanks for what you did back there...for me.",he said, although deep down he wanted to hug her until her eyes popped out. "Ahh...it...was nothing.", she said. "No..it was." They were both looking into each others eyes, smiling, sending unknown messages through the way they talked, and looked at each other. She still had the stains of dried blood on her face and in her fur. "Ha...it dosen't taste as good as I thought.",she said, knowing it was too soon to start cracking jokes. "Hold on..I got it.", he said staring at her blood-splattered fur.

He placed his tongue on her fur, cleaning off the blood that filled the air and the entrance of the cage.

"Umm..Rafi...what is he doing?", asked Juhi, as he stared in bewilderment. "Just...just look away.", Rafi advised.

"Thanks.", Ashanti said, smiling in thankfulness. She started to close her eyes, she was extremely tired. Time started slowing down again. Heartbeat after heartbeat became a distant echo.

"By the way...my name is Simon." Her eyes closed, then came the snoring.

Simon... Simon... Ashanti drifted into a comfortable sleep this time, Simon's name replaying in her mind over and over again. Her breathing went from shallow and quick, to calm and steady. The corner of her mouth curled up as she flexed her claws, and finally let herself drift off.

Juhi looked up at Rafi, who was eyeing the two adult cats, his upper lip pulling over his teeth in a smile. Rafi dropped from his tree, and Juhi took this time to walk over the the tiger, gazing up at him. "Juhi, no?" Woah, his voice was deep! Juhi gaped, not knowing what to say now that he was so close to this huge cat. Not even Juhi's own father had been this large!

Juhi's jaws quickly snapped together, offering a loud clack, and he nodded. The scraping of metal could be heard, and suddenly, Rafi was in the enclosure, strutting his way over. Juhi rolled his large green eyes. "Yes, and that's Rafi." A slight note of annoyance rose in the cub's voice.

"I take it you don't like him that much." Simon laughed deeply as Juhi shook his head quickly.

"It's not that, he's just a baboon with a problem." Simon chuckled, Juhi swearing he could feel the laughter in the ground. Rafi strode over, still sitting high on his throne.

"Hello cat. That was some fight you put up earlier." Rafi smirked, obviously trying to start something.

Simon couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. "Haha yea..where were you? Banana hunting?", said Simon, with a huge grin on his face. Juhi rolled over laughing, so hard that he couldn't hold his sides. Simon started to join him with a light chuckle. Rafi didn't think this as all too funny, as he gave them both a smug look. "If it weren't for my good nature.." Simon was now in Rafi's face. "You would have been in my stomach by now.", he said jokingly. Juhi was still laughing, bouncing about the place like a crazed jack rabbit.

"Hmph.",gestured Rafi. "Lets not let this happen again shall we. Blood isn't really my color you know." With that he gave a curt nod and jumped into the tree above, only to leave behind falling leaves.

"Ahh don't worry about him.", assured Juhi. "He's always like that."
"Haha you don't say.", said Simon.

Both of them looked up too see if Rafi was still there, but suprisingly he wasn't, probably just lounging around somewhere.
Juhi turned to face Simon. He gave a big yawn, showing signs that he was getting very sleepy. "Well goodnight!",he said, as he strolled into the corner, planted his feet, and sunk into a big pile of dirt. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

The moon began to peek through the clouds, the starts lighting up the night sky. Simon walked over to the sleeping Ashanti and looked into the sky once more. The feeling of tiredness came over him in no time. He nustled up against Ashanti, hoping she wouldn't respond by moving away. But her snoring continued on. Simon gave a slight smile, layed his head down, and drifted off. Ashanti opened her eyes, to notice Simon, comfortably snuggled up against her. She smiled, closed her eyes, and slipped back into her slumber.

"Ashanti! Ashanti, Ashanti, Ashanti!" A hyper Juhi was leaping across Ashanti's sore thigh, his small, but strong claws digging into her skin. Ashanti motioned for Juhi to shush, and once he did, she glanced over at the warmth she felt agaist her, seeing Simon fast asleep.

"Shush, now what is it?" The young cat plopped himself down on Ashanti's thigh, the she-jaguar using everything in her power to not hiss in sheer anguish and pain. Maybe she was just overreacting, but it hurt so bad! They'd never shot her with a dart, and the needle on it was huge! Juhi's tail waved back and forth, and his frowned slightly.

"There's something going on at the lion's pen! Angel, the pigeon flew by and kept screaming something about one of the cubs being beaten to death for biting the head zookeeper while getting a shot!" Something like that to a cub? It was insane, especially after what had happened yesterday afternoon with the other zookeepers! Ashanti itched with dread. Oh, that poor cub's mother... She sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Simon, who had his large head laid on her shoulder.

"Beaten to death?" Ashanti whispered, bile building in her throat.

"Yes Ashanti, beaten to death, didn't you hear the kitty?" Rafi spat, his upper lip raised over his teeth. All of this was so... so perposterous!

"Apparently it was early this morning." Fran offered, softly, her gaze turning from the rotted lettuce to Ashanti. "Poor little thing." She sighed, shaking her turtle head. Ashanti's heart felt heavy.

Turning her head away from everyone, she gazed up at the cloudy sky, thoughts clouding her own mind.

Simon was woken up by the business of everything going on in and outside of the pen. Birds flying and squawking overhead, all the other animals freaking out, going madly insane. He jumped up, slightly startled as one of the birds hit the cage, as it was flying past. Ashanti noticed Simon's scare and quickly jogged over to him.

"What's going on? Wha..what's happening?", Simon said, quickly looking for answers..and fast.
"One of the lion cubs..they..were beaten to death.", she said sadly, staring across the zoo in the direction of the lion enclosure.
"Beaten, by who? what!", Simon was now fully alert and hated the fact that he didn't realize what had happened.
"One of the keepers, they, they tried to give him a shot. But, but he didn't..resisted, and they didn't",she said.

One by one the expressions of everyone else in the pen turned into a frown, a look of dispair and sadness filled the air. Simon was appalled, speechless, he didn't know how to react. The whole zoo was on lockdown, guards and keepers equipped with rifles; no darts, no tranquilizers, just steel. Ashanti knew deep down that it was a matter of time until they were targeted. After what had happened the previous night, she was at the top of the hit list; Simon was also aware of that.

"What are we going to do, There's no way those humans are going to live down what just happened!", exclaimed Simon, now more afraid, not thinking straight.
"We've got to get out of this place...we've got to save these animals, all of them, or they will all die." Ashanti sounded very convincing, but the sound of the task was jaw-dropping. "We have to figure out a way out of this wasteland."

Simon, still in panic, nodded in agreement as he looked at Ashanti. The others also accepted the task that lay before them. Ashanti smiled, hoping that her words can do more than just prove a point, but to also protect they're lives.

"Ok..this is what I've been thinking."

Ashanti, looking around at the animals who were gazing at her, felt her pelt prickle in embarrassment. However, she stood tall, her voice strong and clear. "We'll wait until tonight. We'll spread the word through the zoo, and then... we'll escape. It's a Sunday night, which means all the zookeepers won't be here. They'll either be at home with family, or getting loopy at the bar a couple streets down. I doubt they'll kill, or injure any more animals. I've already seen plenty of two-leggers with cameras and paper to write things down on. I'm guessing they're the thing called 'media' that the head honcho's been speaking of." Her mind churned with thought.

She began to pace around the pen, her eyes catching Juhi's. "Young one's need to be carried. This trek could, and will be too long for them to walk the whole time." She looked up, seeing all of the birds around the pen, listening attentively. "I'm going to need you all to think ahead of time. Throw in the what if's. If you get caught, fight back. Don't give in, and if it comes to it, make your injuries from this zoo obvious." Ashanti thought of the few scars she had. She was the luckier ones in the zoo, just because she was a main attraction. She growled at the thought. "I'll get out first, and make sure there aren't any zookeepers around. I'll come to each of your cages and let you out one the coast is clear."

Ashanti thought for a moment. Thought of what they were risking, what they could gain. "And... if a zookeeper gets in the way. Kill them." The last two words made even Ashanti's spine tingle in fear. They were going to do this. They were really going to do this!

News of the escape had spread around the zoo like an African wildfire. Every animal big or small knew about the plan and were more than happy to join the 'rebellion'. "This was it, now or never. This was the moment to strike back and free ourselves from this wretched place. No human would ever harm us again!", exclaimed Simon through the bars of the cage, although every one had heard him loud and clear.

Nightfall began to rise, and the sun set over the horizon, diming the sky and revealing the stars above. Everything was quiet, there was a still chill in the air, as the animals prepared for they're salvation. There was a loud humming and a CLICK, as the zoo security was activated. Cameras were online, lights and lamposts were lit, it looked like Christmas out here. Ashanti looked at Simon, Simon looked at Ashanti. They both gave a nod to each other, including Rafi and Juhi.

Simon walked to the front of the cage, and released a low growl, signaling the first assault. The chameleons worked their way out of the reptile house. Invisible, unseen, ninjas with tails. They marched over to the security center. The inside looked like a buzzing factory, complete with buttons and beeping sounds. One of the guards nodded off, laid back in his chair, completely missing what was going on. One of the chameleons managed to sneak past and got a hold of the control panels. CLICK, with one push of a button all zoo cameras were offline. The chameleon flashed colors inside of the window, signaling the second assault.

The monkeys using they're hands and feet managed to escape they're pen and unlock the doors and hinges of the other zoo animal's cages, including Simon and Ashanti. All younglings were snuck out, and safe in a spot hidden from human view. Doors creaked open, loudly, waking up the guard in the control room. With a great leap he hit the activate button, sending the zoo in full alert!

"NOW!", Ashanti yelled to the heavens. The zoo became filled with the sound and noise of every animal running for freedom. "Come on let's go!", Simon said, as he pushed open the gate to the cage, creating a path of escape.

Ashanti lifted Juhi up into her jaws, her paws flying across the ground. She ran with the stampede of animals, her pelt brushing against Simon as they ran to the front, Juhi practically forcing his eyelids open to watch the excitement. Rafi hitched a ride on one of the elephants, screeching to the heavens. They were out! This... this was...

"Freedom!" Ashanti roared, the other animals joining in with her with calls of their own. Simon let out his own roar, and Ashanti smiled brightly at him her eyes wide with a happiness she hadn't felt in years. The wind in her fur, the smell of the nearing wild. It was so close, yet so far away. Her mind was going a hundred miles an hour. She'd have to stop to talk to them, but where?

Ashanti looked around the hardpaved roads they were running on. It was late at night, so nobody was up other than a few drunks. She spied a hill, illuminated by the moonlight, but covered with trees a little further up the way. She took a sharp jerk to the left, her paws hitting grass.

Yes! This was it!

Running further through the thickening grass, Ashanti began to feel more like she was at home. She ran, hitting the forest, and finally, the top of the hill, which was covered in trees. She slowed, the animals slowing behind her. A large rock jutted from the surface, offering generous amounts of space.

Ashanti leaped atop the rock, with Juhi. She motioned for Simon to come up as well, and he did it reluctantly. Fran watched, thankfully being carried in the curled trunk of a large elephant. "My friends," she smiled, "We're free." A breath of relief overcame her as she looked back out to them all. Two she-tigers gazed on at Simon, their eyes wide. They were probably older than Ashanti, and much larger in size. Ashanti felt a bit of jealousy in the way they'd looked at Simon. Ashanti snorted and gazed back out. "We're free... and now, we must all return home." She smiled softly, lowering her head in thought.