Rrab was hiding. She had curled herself up under some bushes, hoping no one would find her. It was a bother, really, knowing that she was still so easily haunted by the things those males had done to her so long ago, but there was hardly anything she could do about it. The moment she had seen the sway, that familiar walk, her mind had jumped back to her incarceration in the pride, where torture and cruelty had been commonplace.

She knew it wasn't the same male, not even the same color, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared. She was going to make sure she stayed hidden until she felt better. Then she was going to attempt sucking it up and apologizing to the male.

She just had to get past her fear first.

"Are you sure she's this way?" Asked the brown leopard Pima, moving through the brush just behind the large purple lion known as Zuka. They didn't really know one another, but Pima had offered to help him find a lioness he had lost track of. Apparently, though, he was the one doing the leading, even though she had come along because she had seen the lioness not long ago.

Zuka looked over his large shoulder at the leopard, nodding shortly before turning his head back towards the path ahead of him. "yes," he assured her quickly, stepping over some branches from a recently felled tree.

"Her scent is getting stronger. She has to be around here somewhere. Perhaps you should call out to her. I would, but she is clearly afraid of me. I don't think she would respond if she heard my voice right now." He sighed heavily at that. He liked to have fun and play with others! Fight when fighting was needed, but learn and grow from each battle! Did that really make him so scary?

Rrab, meanwhile, had not heard their voices, though she was as close to them as Zuka suspected. She hadn't picked up on their scents, either. She was too busy sniffling and hiding her muzzle under her paws as she sobbed quietly into the pads under them. She was so ashamed of herself! And after everything she had done to make sure she was stronger in front of men, too!

One triggered memory and she was back where she had started. That was a bad thing, wasn't it? Didn't that mean she had failed with all her training?

Pima nodded at the sad lion's comment, though she couldn't help but chuckle faintly. "Don't look so depressed, Zuka! She probably just didn't know what you were like. After we find her, why don't we just prove to her that you're not a bad guy? I'm sure that would help her think more highly of you, you know? More than that, it might actually be fun, too!" She chuckled again at the thought of it. The two of them trying to make a female less frightened. Could they really do it? Meh.

She didn't know, but it wasn't like she had anything else to do.

Zuka didn't hate Pima's idea, though he wondered if they would really be able to help the lioness out. Like Pima, he wondered if they could actually do it. However, he didn't think it was a funny thought. He really did want to prove that he wasn't a bad lion!

He had no idea, of course, that she wasn't frightened of him because she thought HE was a bad lion. That it had been her memories that had upset her, not the purple male himself.

her crying calming, Rrab slowly rose to her feet, shifting out from under the bushes slowly. She was starting to feel less embarrassed now, and the trembling in her body had faded a little while ago. She was pretty sure she could head back now. How long had it been? Had they been waiting for her, or did they just leave? She was sure they had left. It had been more than a day!

There was no reason for them to stay when they didn't really know her. Still, she felt bad. She would have liked to have at least apologized for her poor behavior. It was only right.

Pima could see Zuka was considering her idea, which made her smile. That was really all she needed to see to boost her spirits. She raised her head up, sucking in a deep breath.

"Hey Rrab, are you around here somewhere?! Zuka is looking for you! Your other friend is really worried about you, too! Come on out and talk to us!" She yelled as loudly as she could, the lion beside her clearly surprised with the power that could come from a small leopard's diaphragm.

She sighed softly, sitting herself down. "Now we wait," she hummed.

"Indeed," Zuka replied, sitting down beside her. "You know, I'm sure Kiti is very thankful that you decided to help us. I am, too. We probably would have been in a much tougher spot without your help- we might have gone in the wrong direction!"

Kiti had needed her rest- it was good to have another female there to help him search. Even if he had gone in the right direction, there was no promise she would have answered him if he had called for her. She probably would have thought he was there to hurt her or something.

He sighed heavily.

Rrab could have jumped out of her skin when she heard someone suddenly screaming for her. She had just moved away from the bushes and had decided to continue her journey without trying to find Kiti and Zuka again. Then, out of nowhere, some new voice was telling her that she needed to return so they could see her again. A spirit somewhere? Unlikely. If she had to guess, she imagined the voice had sounded somewhere to her right.

Curious, she ventured slowly towards the source of the sound, poking her head out from behind some bushes to see a leopard and Zuka sitting mere feet from her.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Pima replied easily enough, "I don't really need thanks. I had nothing better to do and it seemed kind of fun to hunt for someone, you know? So that's reward enough in my book." She couldn't really believe what she was saying. Normally she demanded compensation. Now, though, she was happy just to have helped out.

What was the world coming to, anyway?

Looking away from Zuka, Pima spotted the brightly colored lioness they had been looking for poking out from some bushes. She gave Zuka a nudge to get his attention. "Look who it is," she grinned.

Zuka looked over when he was nudged, happy to see Rrab staring at him from behind some bushes. She didn't look like she was going to run away when their eyes met, either! She was nervous, sure, but he could see a part of her wanted to stay there this time.

"Thank goodness you're alright, my dear," Zuka offered the lioness lightly, slowly getting to his feet, "Kiti and I have been so worried! I'm really sorry about frightening you- it wasn't my intention, I promise! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." He gave her a deep, apologetic bow at that, hoping it might make her happier.

Rrab watched him bow and heard him apologize. Slowly, she ventured out from her hiding spot, moving over to the male. She stopped some distance away, still too afraid to get very close to him. But she could look at him now and not see the male from her past. She could see he was a kind lion who really hadn't meant to upset her. Who hadn't upset her in the first place!

"Rrab sorry," she offered weakly, "Rrab ran... scared of Zuka... but NOT of Zuka, either! Zuka move like other lion. Mean lion... Rrab get confused." She knew she wasn't good at speaking, but she wanted him to know that it hadn't been his fault. Thankfully, he seemed to understand. He smiled at her, sadly, without looking like he was going to hurt her.

This really was a different lion.

She smiled back him too, albeit weakly, wanting him to know that she was going to attempt to be better about spending time with him. She had to be!

Pima smiled and watched the two of them, happy that things had apparently worked out okay, even though it looked like Rrab was still a little scared of the male. But it also seemed as though she had only been scared because he reminded her of someone else- that probably had him feeling pretty good!

"I don't know about the two of you, but I think it's about time we head back to Kiti. Maybe take a long rest before we part ways! I am beat after all that searching! But I'm glad things worked out alright. Come on!" She took off back in the direction they had come, the two following her eagerly.

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