Chapter 20
After a while, I was woken up by Howie's growling. I tiredly lifted my head up and looked at him. "What is it?" I yawned. "Something doesn't smell right." He whispered. "Huh? Everything smells okay to me. Sure it isn't just you?" I teased. He gave me a scornful look and said, "No, it isn't me. It's something else, like, a bunch of humans and animals. Only, the smell is a mixture of emotions." "How can you tell all of that from smelling?" I asked skepticly. "It's a canine insticnt. But I'm sure were here." "Possibly. But the smell, it's too familiar. Like, I've been here before or something." I said. "Maybe, knowing the adventure you went on almost two years ago." Howie said. "Yeah, how could I ever forget that? Makes me miss my mom. And my dad..." "Yeah, it also reminds me of how you and I first became friends. You know, after you saved my aunt Tyranena." Howie said, with a smile. "Those were the days huh?" I said, remembering us as a little cub and pup. "Yup. I never forgot how you saved me that day either." Howie said. "I was just doing what I thought was important." I said. "I know. And I'm thankful for that. You helped a lot of other animals didn't you?" "You can say that. I also met one unforgetable human. His name was Trevor. Saved my life, he did. He made me realize that not all humans were bad. That some were good and kind." I smiled, but I knew Trevor wasn't really a human. And that he was well, you probably already know. "Wow, he sounded amazing." "He was. I never saw him again after me and Xavier went home. He just disappeared." I said sadly. "That's a pretty nice story Shira. It sounds like that adventure you went on wasn't so bad after all." "Once I think about it, it wasn't. It taught me a lot of things. And this adventure my cubs are on, well, I bet it has taught them as much as mine taught me." "I can imagine." Me and Howie smiled, lost in our memories. But they were soon interupted when the van door opened. We both looked and saw Lucas and Nelson staring at us. "Okay Lucas. You get the dog, I got the lion." Nelson said, stepping into the van. "Okay, Howie. This is it. Remember the plan." I whispered, as Nelson fumbled with my cage lock. "Okay, I'll do my best." Howie whispered back, as Lucas led him out of the van. Nelson reached into my cage and tied a rope sucurely around my neck. "Okay lioness, let's see what your made of." He said coldly. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I asked. He yanked me by the rope and harshly pulled me off the van. I looked around to see a old run down refugee camp. It had almost a million different animals locked up in pens inside it though. I scanned each pen carefully until I saw the one that contained Noami and Tonori. They both cried with joy when they saw me. Nelson noticed and smiled a cold smile. "These are your cubs huh? Little trouble makers they are. Maybe you can teach them some sense." He opened up the pen and pushed me through the gate. As soon as Nelson did that, Lucas put Howie in the other pen next to us. Luckily it was chain link fencing, that'd away me and Howie could keep in touch. Howie smiled when he saw Noami and Tonori in the pen with me. "Mommy!" They both yelled, running up to me. I quickly snuggled them both and licked their little heads. Well, they weren't that little anymore, considering that they were the size of a labordor retriever now. "Oh my! You two have gotten so big! I've missed you both soooo much!" I cried. "We missed you too mommy!" Noami cried. "Yeah! We've been shipped from place to place since they caught us." Tonori added. "I know. I've been tracking you two since you were taken away." I said, trying to dry the tears from my eyes. Howie was crying too. He was just as happy to see them as I was. "How did they catch you?" Noami asked. "I triggered one of their traps. I knew that if I was to trigger one of their traps, that they'd bring me and Howie straight to you." "Howie's here too?!" Tonori yelled in surprise. "Uh huh. He's right over there." I said, looking over to the pen that contained Howie. "Howie!" Noami and Tonori yelled in unison. "Hey kiddo's!" He yelled, wagging his tail. "I can't believe you came here too!" Tonori yelled. "Well, I owe your mom a great debt. Plus, she is my best friend. And you two are my favorite little lion cubs." He smiled. "We are the only lion cubs." Noami laughed. "Yeah, but even if you weren't. You two would still be my favorite." Howie said happily. Tonori smiled and looked back at me. But I was now focused on getting out of here. "Mom? Are you okay?" Tonori asked, walking over to me. "Yeah I'm fine sweetie. I'm just trying to figure out a way to get us home." I said. "How do you plan to do that?" He asked. "I don't know quite yet. But I promise you, I'll get us out of here. If it's the last thing I do."
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