Featured Music

"When She Loved Me" Jordan Pruitt cover

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Back in the Pride Lands, things were not looking so wonderful.

After Walter took over, things took a serious turn for the worst. When people began suspecting that something was up when they never saw Queen Heidi, he eventually staged another accident, but this time faking the death. There was no way he was getting rid of his prize. As long as people thought she was dead, no one would come to her rescue. But he continued to use Rhett as a hostage for her.

Things weren't any better for the people either. The lands had dried out, the plants were dying, and many of the animals had migrated their herds and packs to different lands.

What little food existed in the land, Walter took it for himself. And he held the Jedi's children as hostages to keep them in line, including Obi-Wan's daughter. He and Satine had a baby just a few years ago, and to this day, Olivia never knew what it was like to be free or happy.

Sadly, the Jedi were still enslaved. And to make matters worse, Walter outlawed and confiscated all their lightsabers. No one could fight him or object to him as long as he had his cronies.

________________________

While Walter forced Satine to sit beside him and feed him grapes, Obi-Wan sat in a cage by Walter's throne, being forced to sing a song for the king.

"Nobody knows the trouble I see," sang Obi-Wan. "Nobody knows my sorrows..."

"Now, Obi-Wan. Do lighten up." Walter said, throwing an apple core at Obi-Wan's head. "Sing something with a little.... Bounce in it."

Obi-Wan thought of something just to bug Walter.

Baby shark, do, do, do, do, do

"No! Not that one!" Walter exclaimed.

Obi-Wan smirked and thought of something else.

Let it go, let it go

"NO! Anything but that."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and sang another song that he thought sounded rather silly.

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, there they are standing in a row, big ones, small ones, some as big as your head."

Walter began to sing along for that last bit.

"Oh, I never had to do something so undignified for Queen Brenda."
"What was that?!" Walter shouted, which had Obi-Wan backing up in the little cage.

"Uh... nothing!"

"You know the law. Never ever mention that name in my presence. I am the king."

"Yes, Sire. You are the king. I... I only mentioned it to illustrate the differences in your royal managerial approaches."

Just then, there came a knock at the door.

"King Walter, we need to talk." Ventress bellowed from the other side.

"What is it this time?" Walter groaned.

Ventress kicked the door open and entered with Bossk and Tak.

"We have a bone to pick with you," hissed Bossk.

"I will handle this," said Ventress. "Walter, there is no food, no water."

"Yeah. It's dinner time and we ain't got no stinking entrees."

"It's the Jedi's job to do the hunting," said Walter.

"Yeah, but they won't go hunt, no matter how much we threaten them."

"Oh, eat Obi-Wan."

Satine immediately stood protectively in front of her husband's cage. At least, as far as she could get in her chains.

"Oh, you wouldn't want me," said Obi-Wan. "I'm too tough, and gamey..." Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "And hairy."

"Oh, Obi-Wan, don't be ridiculous. All you need is a little garlic."

"We're fresh out of that." Satine said, even if it was a joke.

"And I thought things were bad under Brenda," grumbled Bossk.

Walter quickly turned to his minions in anger.

"What did you say?!"

"I said-" Ventress elbowed Bossk before he could repeat the forbidden name. So, Bossk had to come up with a coverup. "Uh, I said, we should check the agenda?"

"Good. Now get out."

The three hyenas started to leave, but stopped to point out that they were still hungry.

"OUT!"

And the hyenas rushed out like scared puppies.

________________________

As night fell and it was time for everyone to be asleep, including the slaves, who were locked in their cells for the night, the Jedi waited until the guards weren't looking.

Mace might not have been king anymore, but he was still a high ranking Jedi.

"Alright, everyone. I think we are all in agreement that Walter is doing anything but good for this kingdom. There's no food or water for anyone." Mace explained.

"That Walter is a menace!" Ki-Adi said.

"Everything used to be so wonderful when your wife was queen," said Luminara.

"What would Master Yoda say if he could see us now?" Plo Koon said.

Everyone looked down at that. They had been slaves for the last thirteen years, but here and now, they decided they couldn't take it anymore! Something had to be done for the sake of the children and the rest of the circle of life. And so, the Jedi decided they needed to come up with a plan. But, they weren't sure what kind of plan. So, together, the Jedi began to meditate.

The Jedi all closed their eyes and held hands with everyone who was in the same cell as them. All of them concentrated as they looked and looked for answers, but nothing seemed to come up. Even the highest ranking, most disciplined Jedi masters couldn't find anything. But then, some of the younger Jedi began to feel something... a vision.

Anakin and Carmine, both grown into handsome young men, were in a cell together, and they weren't alone. With them was Comedia, a full grown mare now, and a young Togruta around her age named Ahsoka Tano, who had a cheetah and green crystals on her talisman.

In their vision, the four Jedi could see different things that seemed to somehow be connected.

"I'm seeing... horses?" Carmine said.

"I can see... trees. Lots of trees. I hear... waterfalls." Anakin said. "And... singing? A place that looks like what our home used to be."

"There are people living there." Ahsoka said.

Comedia was silent for a moment as she concentrated a little harder. Even before Walter took over, she'd had a little more trouble with her Jedi training than the others, probably due to the fact that she was the only Jedi with four legs, and who didn't have an animal charm on her talisman. Just a wood-carved letter C and her crystals. What she saw in her vision totally shocked her.

Comedia opened her eyes with a gasp, which startled her friends out of their meditation, as well as many others.

"Comedia, what's wrong?" Anakin said.

"Myra... I saw Myra!" Comedia gasped.

"As in Princess Myra?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes. It was her! I could feel it."

"But that's impossible," said Anakin. "She was killed with Queen Brenda."

"I don't think so. I think she's alive. That place we saw must be where she is. We have to get out and find her."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Ahsoka said. "Our Force abilities won't work in here."

It was true. The reason the Jedi hadn't escaped yet was because Walter had these cells refurbished with special crystals that made it very difficult for the Jedi to use their abilities. It took a lot of strength for them just to do this one meditation, and Comedia had a metal cone strapped and locked over her horn that prevented her from using magic. Thus, for the last thirteen years, the keys were always sitting on the wall across from the Jedi's cells, taunting them every single night.

But then, Comedia had an idea.

"Has anyone tried using their talisman?" Comedia said.

"The cells are a little small for even one of us to transform." Luminara said. "Otherwise I would've used mine years ago."

If you had an animal talisman, there were only three events where you could not transform: while you were sleeping, while you were sick, or if you were in an enclosed space with not enough room for your animal form. And the cells many of the Jedi were in were big enough for an elephant to transform, but only if Luminara were the only one in the cell.

"Maybe an elephant can't get us out, but maybe a giraffe can." Comedia said.

Then Anakin realized what Comedia was getting at.

"Comedia's right. Master Mundi, if you can take on your giraffe form, you can probably reach the keys."

"Hmm, that might work. How did I never think of that?" Ki-Adi asked himself.

The other Jedi moved as far back as they could to give the Cerean Jedi some room to transform. Ki-Adi kept his head down as he transformed, and as expected, it was a bit of a tight squeeze, though more because he was a lot taller as a giraffe. But, now that he was in his giraffe form, his head was smaller, but his neck was longer and very flexible.

Carefully, Ki-Adi slipped his head through the bars of the cell and stretched out his neck in the direction of the key. Except, although Ki-Adi was close to the key, he wasn't quite close enough to grab it with his mouth.

Everyone groaned in disappointment.

"It was a good try, Daddy." Comedia said.

But then Ki-Adi had an idea.

"Wait! I'm not done yet." Ki-Adi said. "The neck isn't the only long part of a giraffe."

And Ki-Adi stuck out his tongue, it now being a lot longer in his giraffe form, which allowed him to get the loop of the keychain on his tongue and into his mouth.

"Got it!"

Ki-Adi aimed carefully and spit the keys out so they landed right in front of the younger Jedi's cell.

Anakin grabbed the keys and used them to get the cone off Comedia's head and unlock the cell so he and his friends could get out.

"Alright! Now let's get the rest of you out."

"No, Anakin." Mace said. "It's too dangerous if all of us try to escape now. The four of you need to leave the Pride Lands now and get help."

"But what about you?" Ahsoka asked.

"We'll be fine. I may not be your king anymore, but I'm still looking out for this kingdom for my wife." Mace said. "Do as I say, if not for me, for Queen Brenda and your families."

Having no time to argue, Anakin, Ahsoka, Carmine, and Comedia rushed out of the dungeon, sneaking through some emergency tunnels Master Koth had dug some years before Walter took over. And under the cover of night, the four Jedi set out to find their missing princess. But they didn't know then that someone who was not a Jedi had a similar idea.

________________________

That very same night, lots of beautiful stars filled the air, as well as a loud belch.

"Whoa! Nice one, Myra." Hunter said.

"I don't even Wrecker could do one that loud." Echo said.

"Thanks." Myra sighed. "Man, I'm stuffed."

"Me too," said Wrecker. "I ate like a pig"

"Wrecker, you are a pig."

"Oh, right."

The eight friends all lay down in the soft grass, all of them sighing after yet another beautiful day in paradise had come and gone, and now they were here to enjoy a night under the stars.

"Hunter?" said Omega. "Ever wonder why those sparkly stars are in the sky?"

"Well, Omega." Hunter began. "I don't know, really. But they're pretty. Especially on the nights when the fireflies aren't flying about."

"I think they're magic." Boba said. "People are always making wishes on them. I wonder if they came true."

"I thought they were just balls of gas burning millions of miles away," said Wrecker.

"Technically, they are." Tech said.

"Wrecker, with you, everything is gas." Crosshair said, close to falling asleep.

"What do you think, Myra?" Echo said.

"Well, I don't know..." Myra was hesitant to say what she thought, but her friends all insisted.

"Come on. We told you ours. Please?" Wrecker begged.

"Well... somebody once told me that the great kings and queens of the past are up there watching over us. And if you're one who gets to see a shooting star, it means the star chose whoever saw it first."

"Really?"

"You mean a bunch of royal dead people are watching us?" Hunter said.

Crosshair stifled a laugh, and a few of his brothers were laughing too.

"Who told you something like that?" Hunter snorted.

"What kind of mook made that up?" laughed Crosshair.

Myra, however, wasn't amused at all.

"That 'mook' who told me that was my mom!" Myra exclaimed, getting up, becoming a lioness, and running away.

That had the Batch silenced. Normally, they had no worries, but this was one of those rare times they did worry. Myra was obviously hurt.

Come to think of it, none of them knew Myra's whole story. They told her to put her past behind her, so she did... at least she acted like she had. But, Myra was hurt by something just before she'd met them, something terrible they didn't know about. What if it was worse than they thought (or rather hadn't thought)? Something to do with her mother?

________________________

Myra ran to a rocky cliff where there were little white flowers underneath the starry night sky. Sometimes, Myra went to that same cliff when she needed time to herself or to get away from Wrecker. Wrecker was too afraid of heights to get close to that cliff.

Myra became a human again to look down at her talisman and hold the charm in her hands, revealing a secret compartment inside it. Inside, there was a little picture of her parents on the day their little princess was born. Brenda was holding a baby Myra, and she and Mace were both smiling with so much love for the little bundle of joy. It was then that Myra felt her mind fill with so many memories she had back when she lived in the Pride Lands, especially ones she made with her mom.

When somebody loved me

Everything was beautiful

Every hour we spent together

Lives within my heart

And when she was sad

I was there to dry her tears

And when she was happy, so was I

When she loved me

Myra recalled a time when she was really small, her parents took her for a walk, and she got to ride on her dad's back while he was in lion form. Brenda wanted to show Myra something very special in the savannah. A space where lots of tall grass grew; perfect for rolling around in.

Through the summer and the fall

We had each other, that was all

Just she and I together

Like it was meant to be

Of course, not all memories started out so happy. Myra recalled a time when Brenda was sad because it was the anniversary of the day her parents died. But then Myra picked up a cute little kora, a musical instrument that kind of looks like a banjo, and made music for her mom, and it made her smile.

And when she was lonely

I was there to comfort her

And I knew that she loved me

But then came the day Myra lost everything. No matter how much time passed or how much time she spent in the worry-free life of Hakuna Matata, Myra spent every night crying in her sleep, missing her friends and family so much.

So the years went by

I stayed the same

But she began to drift away

I was left alone

Still, I waited for the day

When she'd say, "I will always love you"

Myra looked at her picture again and could almost feel her parents smiling at her again, just like they always did.

Lonely and forgotten

Never thought she'd look my way

And she smiled at me and held me

Just like she used to do

Like she loved me

When she loved me

When somebody loved me

Everything was beautiful

Every hour we spent together

Lives within my heart

When she loved me

Myra hugged the talisman close to her heart as tears stung her eyes. Feeling weak in her knees, she dropped to the ground, trying to silence her weeping, and when she sent some white petals and pollen into the wind.

__________________________

The winds carried the little petals and specks of pollen through the air far away. Some of them followed to a big green tree, probably the only one in the land.

Suddenly, a hand reached into the hair and grabbed some. That hand turned out to belong to a green and gray baboon in the tree.

The old baboon climbed down into a space within the tree and transformed into Master Sinube. After he escaped Walter's wrath, Master Sinube found refuge in this big tree, where he continued to meditate and wait for answers to how to save the circle of life.

Master Sinube looked at the organic matter in his hands, and he took a whiff before placing them into what looked like an old turtle shell dome, and he gently rocked it around, then he grabbed a fruit and broke it in two. He slurped up some juice from it and then looked at the particles again, this time feeling a strong presence from them, a familiar presence he hadn't felt in almost fifteen years!

"Myra?" Sinube gasped. "She's... she's alive? She's alive!"

Master Sinube was overcome with excitement! He quickly started to paint a new picture. One of Myra, all grown up, no longer wearing pigtails, but letting her beautiful hair down to flow in the wind. The answer was so simple: find Myra, and she would save the circle of life by taking her rightful place as queen.

"It is time."