Sunshine splashed across the hare’s soft yellow shoulders as he pawed at the small stream he’d found. His toes, already a darker gold than the rest of him, were soaking by now. But the water felt quite nice. Yukai smiled, his long ears relaxed across his shoulders as he dabbled in the sparkling stream. It was a pretty sort of day, warm enough that the cool water felt good, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. It was the sort of day where anything could happen, and it would probably be a very nice sort of anything.


She had traveled away from the family for a moment to get a drink. Amali assured her that the area was safe for her to wander, no signs of other predators. Arriving at the water's edge to lean in and have a drink, but stopped when she saw someone else already there.

"... Um, hello..." She spoke up softly, curious.


Yukai glanced up when he heard the voice. He’d not smelled any sort of predator, so he wasn’t worried and didn’t bother to move when he’d heard someone coming. She was a pretty thing though, such soft colors in her fur.

“Hello there,” the hare said warmly. “The water is very nice,” he added, in case she was nervous of him being there first. It wasn’t like he owned the stream. And if he did, he’d have been happy to share.


Honestly Lavani was surprised, not accustomed to seeing hares with more natural coloring, she'd started to wonder if they hadn't been overrun by those with the bolder colors, but that was partly why she liked running into new creatures in their travels (As long as they weren't trying to eat her.).

"Thank you." Smiling softly at the invitation she went ahead and took her drink, balancing on her back and front paws. After quenching her thirst, and she agreed the water did feel very nice, she replied again. "It's nice to meet you... My name is Lavani. Do you live near here?" She asked, deciding to spend a bit of time. Amali's daughter was sleeping at her father's side, fed and safe, so she didn't need to worry about entertaining or teaching her right now.


Yukai went back to dabbling lightly, not wishing to disturb her by staring. But she was the first hare he’d seen in a while, and the first in a very long while to have such soft colors. He’d grown more accustomed to the bright neon glow of a rainbow of color. Heck, even he was kind of yellow, just a softer shade. It would be nice to talk with her a bit, but maybe she was in a rush…

“Hmm?” he blinked, having managed to wander off into his own thoughts again. “No, I travel around a bit. But I’ve been through here before.” He straightened, shaking some of the water from his paws as he turned to look at her. “My name is Yukai. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lavani.”


Lavani tipped her head slightly to one side before easing into a more comfortable resting position.

"The pleasure is mine, I'm sure, Yukai. I've never met another hare with natural coloring before, at least not since my siblings or parents. I hope you don't mind my saying so, but I'd begun to think it was a dying occurance."


Oh, good, she seemed to be settling down. It was so nice to meet another hare! Happily, Yukai shifted to settle more comfortably onto his haunches, his damp paws feeling rather cool. He’d thought today would be a good day. It really did seem to be!

“I haven’t seen many with fur like yours,” he admitted, “It looks quite lovely on you. Not that bright colors are bad or anything, it’s just a rather refreshing change.”


"Thank you." She answered, just a bit embarrassed, though you wouldn't know it just by her reaction because she was grinning easy goingly enough. "My parents actually fit the bill pretty closely themselves, except that my mother has bold stripes, like my friend Amali."

She grinned.

"It's nice to know I'm not the last of my 'kind', though." She laughed a bit.


“Oh, right. Naturally your parents would be natural colors too,” Yukai chuckled. It was obvious enough. “My mother was a bright golden yellowy color, kind of orangy. I think my father must have been white, it made me all pale,” he said, looking down at his coat. Not that he minded. He liked having his fur like this. He might not be the best at anything, but he was very comfortable with who he was.

“Who’s Amali?” he asked, just curious. He’d like to meet more hares after all, it seemed like his species was few and far between. Which was just odd considering their reputation…


"Well, not neccessarily." She chuckled softly, but reassured. "Amali and one of his brothers are both colored with more browns and oranges, but Amali's twin brother is blue. I've seen some odd results from some surprising couples. Oh, and, Amali is a friend. He, ah," Lavani clearly hesitated here, her nose twitching as she chose her wording cautiously. Some hares tended to take off running when they heard that she had a lion companion nearby, let alone three. She couldn't blame them really but her makeshift family had never hurt a hare in her presence. "he's kind of like a protector."


“Hm. I wonder if the odd colors come from parent’s parents?” Yukai asked, now wondering himself. He never met his father, or his mother’s parents, so maybe he got his colors from somewhere else. But how would he ever find out? It was disappointing…maybe he could find out from other people. Ooh, yes, that would be a good idea.

“A protector?” the hare repeated, frowning slightly. “Is he like…your dad or something?” Except that didn’t feel quite right, or she’d have simply called him her father. Maybe it was a mate? An overprotective one? Was he going to get into some kind of trouble here? But he hadn’t done anything wrong. “I don’t understand what you mean…”


"I suppose that's possible. We are still related to our grandparents by blood, maybe we just take after them more than our immediate family from time to time." Lavani agreed with a smile as she moved one paw to dip into the stream. The converstaion was on and off rather easy going, but would it stay that way now? Lavani looked across the water with an uncertain glance. "Well, if I tell you, just don't panic or anything. Um, Amali is a lion... I befriended his cub so he took me in. I travel with them now."


Yukai nodded, he hadn’t thought of it until she’d said so, but it sounded right to him. That it sounded right to her probably meant that it was so. How very interesting indeed. Of course, when she said ‘don’t panic’ he instantly got nervous. It wasn’t the sort of thing someone said when there was every reason to be utterly calm after all. Both ears pricked up alertly as she spoke, and his eyes darted around the area.

“A…a lion? Really?” the hare had gone rather tense, he hadn’t had many good experiences with lions. Oh sure, the cubs were okay since they were too small to do much. But…lions? Adult lions? “W-well…if…if you say he’s safe then…I believe you. Just make sure you let him know I’m with you, yeah? I don’t want to get eaten by accident...” he chuckled nervously, still looking on edge but he was trying to relax…


"Don't worry," She tried again, apologetic for worrying him. "He makes it a general rule of thumb nut to hunt hares. Never knows when he'll run into my family or friends, you know?" She tried to explain, somehow embarrassed, drawing back her paw from the water as she straightened up.


"Ah, I see," Yukai let out a breath he hadn't meant to hold. "Well, thank you for telling me. I think he must make a very good protector." Who would mess with someone who lived with a lion? Still, he was a little uncomfortable with the idea of being so close to a predator, a lion almost got him when he was little and he was a little nervous about them. It wasn't without good reason, though he felt bad for being frightened of her friend...

Idly, he batted at the water himself, not really noticing the way she'd straightened up.


"Um, Yukai, will you be here long?" The softer hare spoke again, drawing back to raise up onto her back paws. She thought it best to get back for now and tell the others just in case, so he'd be out of danger, but she kind of hoped to see him again. He was easy to talk to, so far. She really aught to spend more time around her own species.


"Ah, I don't know..." Yukai mumbled, still watching the ripples in the water. He didn't like the idea of being around a lion but...somehow... he couldn't bring himself to dissappoint her. And for some reason it felt like if he just left he would.

"I'll be around another day or two though," he added, feeling a bit uncertain but...well...why not. There was water, food, shelter... Sure there was a lion around, but he was a hare. There was always going to be someone who'd want to eat him.


She crossed the distance between the two of them and nudged him on the shoulder, smiling.

"I promise I'll tell Amali and his brothers to leave you alone. They're going out to hunt tomorrow, the other direction. I could meet you back here then, and we can talk then while they're gone far off?"


Yukai smiled a bit when she nudged him, he was probably just worrying excessively for little good reason. "Thank you," he said when she told him she'd ask her friends to leave him alone. "Sorry, I know you trust them but it still makes me a bit nervous," he admitted, as though she wouldn't be able to tell from his behavior. "I'll be here," the hare promised, nudging her lightly back. She seemed like she might be fun to get to know better. And it had been such a long time since he'd made a new friend...