Author: WolfNight740

Visitors from the Far Lands



The cool breeze from the African savannah ruffled the hair of three friends: Leo, a tall, lanky boy with wild hair; Marc, shorter and stockier, always carrying a camera on his shoulder; and Santi, the youngest, brimming with curiosity. They had been exploring the reserve for days, and the excitement of the adventure was palpable.
"Are you sure this is the cave the guide was talking about?" Marc asked, adjusting his camera lens.
"Yes, the description is accurate," Leo replied, pointing to an entrance almost hidden by vegetation. "He said there's ancient rock art."
As they entered, the light faded, replaced by the faint glow of their flashlights. The air was thick and smelled of damp earth. In the center of the cave, a smooth stone wall bore a drawing—not of buffalo or lions, but of three hyenas. One with a malevolent smile, another with a frown, and the third with its tongue hanging out.
Santi, his heart racing, was the first to approach. He reached out and touched the image of the hyena with its tongue out. A soft blue glow emanated from the drawing, enveloping his hand and then spreading throughout his body.
"Santi!" Marc exclaimed, but it was too late. The glow reached Marc and Leo, touching the drawing of the other hyenas. All three were enveloped in a blinding light.
Santi's body began to change. His shoulders shrank as a hump appeared on his back. His skin became covered in mottled gray fur, and his fingers contracted to form claws. His nose lengthened and turned pink, while his ears became pointy. A short, bushy tail sprouted from the small of his back. His face distorted, his eyes widened, and a strange, goofy grin spread across his mouth.
Marc's change was similar. His gray fur became covered with black spots, and his face twisted into a constant, angry expression. His yellow eyes narrowed, and a crest of black fur appeared on his back.
Leo transformed into the third hyena. His grin stretched into a sinister smirk, and his yellow eyes shone with malice. His fur became mottled, and his body became thinner and longer than his friends'. The transformation was so swift and painful that the three of them fell to the ground, panting, now like three hyenas identical to those in the painting.
"What happened to us?" Marc asked, but his voice wasn't his own, but a deep growl.
"Marc, is that you?" Santi said in a high-pitched, goofy voice.
Leo let out a dry laugh, "This is crazy!" His voice was hoarse and full of arrogance.
Suddenly, the cave vanished, and sunlight flooded in. They were no longer in the cave, but in a desolate, gloomy place, filled with bones and skeletons. The Outlands.
“Where are we?” asked Santi, his new ears twitching nervously.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like this,” said Marc.
The three of them looked at each other, scared and confused. “Santi, Marc, we have to find a way back,” said Leo, but instantly, his mind clouded. A different thought broke through, louder, clearer. Janja’s name echoed in his mind.
Santi felt his memory fading. Who were Leo and Marc? The words lost their meaning. Only Cheezi remained, the hunger and the need to follow their leader, Janja.
Marc felt the change too. His mind was no longer Marc’s. It was Chungu’s. There was only their leader, loyalty, and the desire to follow Janja.
Janja, Chungu, and Cheezi. The three looked at each other again, no longer with fear, but with a new purpose. They were no longer the boys. They were the hyenas.
Janja let out a sinister laugh. “Okay, boys, how about we go cause a little chaos? The Lion Guard won’t know what hit them.”
With the boys’ memories erased and the hyenas’ personalities in control, the three of them went deeper into the Outlands, ready to wreak havoc and overthrow the team protecting the Grasslands.