Those Whom The Lions Hunt

[Kirsui]

It was midday at the savannah, though for a moment ago that would have been near impossible to know. It had been raining all night, and only now the rain clouds were finally dying and the rain was becoming lighter. The clouds broke apart, allowing the sun to shine at the freshly watered lands. Rain droplets that still stuck on vegetation sparkled merrily, and it looked like the whole savannah had turned into a field of diamonds.

But not for Kaste. She had hidden underground to the tunnel she had dug to the side of a small hill. It was dry and warm in there as she relaxed on her bed of grass. Her feet were spread at different directions as she laid on her belly, her huge ears hung limply on each side of her head. And she was smiling, clearly enjoying the warmth of her nest.

However, that would not be long. The young riverine rabbit opened her eyes and stared at the darkness of the tunnel. She would need to go out very soon, because she could feel her hunger grow at each passing moment. She had not dared to go out at night, it was simply way too risky for her since she could not hear nor smell anything during rain. So now she laid on her grass bed, not knowing whether to go now or wait longer.

She laughed at herself and rose to her feet, hopping into her exit tunnel and sniffing the air as she went. She would have to go out sooner or later to graze, so why not go right away before she would be starving?

Kaste paused at the entrance of her tunnel, waiting in the safety of her home for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the bright light. She then slowly hopped closer to the entrance, and then paused when she was half out of the tunnel. She stood as tall on all four feet of hers as she could, her huge ears twitching to different directions while she sniffed the air. So far so good, she could not hear nor smell any predators.

She took a few more hops out of her tunnel, then stopped again and rose to sit on her hind legs. She scanner the area, listened and sniffed... And... still nothing.

Happily the young riverine rabbit dared to jump forward a bit more before she lowered on all fours and grabbed a leaf from a nearby shrub before sitting on her hind legs again to listen and sniff the air as she ate.

[Zorayda]

Dhahabu stared at himself in the clear water of the river. He absolutely loved what he saw.

A flawless facade, sparkling white teeth, a perfect equine bone structure, dark chocolate stripes contrasting against white, and turquoise feathers tucked behind an ear and tied to his thick, shiny mane.

Yes, this zebra was Narcissus himself. After whinnying happily at his reflection, Dhahabu pranced and dipped his head down to drink from the perfectly clear water. He flicked an ear at a sound nearby and immediately looked up, alert for predators.

No zebra wanted to be caught by one of the mighty lions.

After his blue eyes darted back and forth for a minute, he relaxed, breathing out slowly. Being a lone zebra was something that he did NOT want to happen, but here he was. He'd only been alone for a few days, but it seemed that his herd had forgotten and abandoned him. A zebra's worst nightmare.

No matter, though, he thought to himself. There are plenty of strong herbivores out there or another zebra herd who would give in to his good looks and charms. He smiled and quirked an eyebrow at this thought. He was indeed irresistable.

Another twitch in the leaves made him doubly alert this time. His head whipped around to see a flash of tannish brown in the patch of green grass nearby. Then a little rabbit popped out of a hole, stood up on its hind legs, then began nibbling on a leaf.

Dhahabu chuckled to himself. Such a cute little bunny! However, if he introduced himself too quickly to the rabbit, it would scamper away. As jumpy and alert as zebras were, rabbits were a hundred times worse.

So he crept forward to it and let out a quiet whinny, hoping that the cute animal wouldn't scare away if he made a non-predator, equine noise.

[genie]

Aerilyn came humming along her head bouncing from side to side as she jumped from imaginary crack on ground to next imaginary crack, not really paying attention to things when she heard a whinny. She stopped, looked around and she saw a river near her and got immediately excited and vaguely noticed some zebra on the other side. "Woohhoohoohooooo!!!!!" she cried and ran and lept straight out into the river with not even a second thought to anything being in it that might want to eat her.

The next scene was rather quick in happening... her feet splashed down in the water and the next they were flat out to her sides as she lay partially submerged. Her head down and bubbles raising out of her nose before she came to her senses and managed to get to her feet and exclaimed "Woah wipeout!" and giggled to herself.

[Kirsui]

Kaste's eyes shot wide open and her whole body tensed when she heard a sudden whinny noise. She was ready to dart into her hole, but something kept her still. Perhaps it was something in that noise... It didn't sound predatory at all.

However, the following noises scared her completely when someone yelled out, apparently out of excitement, and then a huge splash followed. The young rabbit didn't remain there to see what had caused this though. She was inside her tunnels faster than one can say "rabbit". In fact she kept racing deeper and deeper into her tunnel until she reached her sleeping den. That was where she stopped, panting and trying to catch her breath. And that was where she finally begun to wonder what had caused all that noise outside.

Kaste tilted her head, and her scared feeling disappeared when curiosity got the better of her. She hopped back towards the tunnel entrance, stopping once in a while to listen before she continued. Finally she stopped completely when she reached the entrance to her tunnels, and slowly she popped her head out and looked around with her huge eyes. She couldn't see much, the grass was too high, and so she had to use her ears and listen.

[Zorayda]

Dhahabu let out an indignant whinny when some airheaded gazelle scared away the rabbit he was trying to coax out from hiding.

The gazelle pranced straight into the water--an incredibly stupid move. The river was known to be full of crocodiles, and if the stupid animal didn't get out of the water quick, she was bound to be eaten.

"Hey!" Dhahabu shouted. "Get out of there! Don't you know that there are crocodiles in that water?" He trotted over to the edge of the water, but not too close--the zebra may have been narcissistic, but he wasn't stupid.

"Come over to the edge here," Dhahabu called. Suddenly he noticed a lumpy mass in the distant edge of the river making its way over to them, the idiot gazelle girl's splashes drawing its attention.

"Hurry! You've got one on your tail!" Dhahabu yelled, now afraid for the gazelle's life. The handsome zebra knew that once you saw one crocodile, there were many others that would follow.

[genie]

Aerilyn face was a marvel to see, if visual indications could material there'd of been question marks above her head. She turned her head one way to look behind her and turned it the other way. then stuck it under herself trying to see what was 'on her tail'. For the 2nd time in a short time, her head was under the water before she brought it up and grinned. She merrily trotted out of the water and shook before going right up to Dhahabu looking straight in his face. A flattened smile and half opened eyes she goes "Mmmm mmm Mr Zebra teases me, there nothing on my tail!"

[Kirsui]

"Get out of there! Don't you know that there are crocodiles in that water? -- Hurry! You've got one on your tail!"

Kaste tilted her head and flicked her ears towards the direction of the sound. Her nose was twitching rapidly as she tried to catch the scent of these creatures that were creating these noises. When she failed in this she spent a moment thinking whether or not she should completely leave the safety of her tunnel and check out what was going on.

Her curiosity finally won and the young riverine rabbit hopped away from her tunnel and towards the sources of the sound. After all, the tunnel wasn't that far away, and she could easily just run back there if need be. That was what she hoped anyway, but, since she was a curious creature, the curiosity covered the fear that she should have been feeling.

Slowly she made her way through the grass, making sure she was completely concealed until she was close enough to the water. It was then when she slowly popped her head out of the dense grass, flicking her ears at all directions while closely examining the two creatures in front of her. A zebra and a gazelle... A huge grin spread on her face, and she almost laughed out loud at how scared these two herbivores had made her.

"Mmmm mmm Mr Zebra teases me, there nothing on my tail!"

She couldn't hold her laughter anymore. She burst into a series of quite loud giggles. She laughed so hard that she fell on her back at the ground with all her feet pointing towards the sky. She had to close her eyes and hold her belly because she couldn't hold the laughter, and her powerful hind legs were kicking the air.

[Zorayda]

Dhahabu whipped his head around at the sound of laughter somewhere near the ground.

There was that rabbit from before, out of her hole and giggling at the goofy antics of Aerilyn.

"Ah! You're the one I saw before," the zebra said. "I," he said, puffing out his chest, "am Dhahabu, son of Jahili. What's your name, bunny?"

[Kirsui]

It took a while before the young riverine rabbit's laughter calmed, and it took a bit more time from her to catch her breath so that she could actually answer the zebra's question. She wiped her eyes dry, the laughter had brought tears with it, and rose to sit on her hind legs with both her front paws hugging close to her chest. Her nose was twitching again, and her huge ears moved around to check suspicious noises, but otherwise she seemed quite calm and relaxed.

"I'm Kaste", she introduced herself with a wide smile.
"I've been living here for some time... Alone I might add. Left the community 'cos there was just way too much rabbits there."
She tilted her head.
"Though... I dunno if I'll stay here", she continued with a pondering expression.
"For now I will, it's been quite peaceful here, too peaceful actually..."
She glanced around suspiciously, then leaned closer to Dhahabu.
"No predators", she said and nodded as if she was telling a huge secret.
"I haven't seen them much, and it always makes me wonder... I should change the area actually... Sure it's nice to live here where it's peaceful and safe, but... Too much safety can kill you, that's what my father used to say!"

Suddenly the young rabbit went quiet and her eyes widened a bit.
"Ohh!" she said and grinned sheepishly.
"I kinda... got carried away with all the talking didn't I?"

[genie]

Aerilyn tilted her head to one side while listening to the conversation as if trying to understand. She didn't... why mr zebra puffed out chest, why miss rabbit said being safe killed you, she pouted, why did animals always do things, say things she didn't understand!