Kuon had eaten early in the morning and was now waking up from a very long and relaxing nap in the shade of an acacia tree. He barely moved, eyes still closed as the lion slowly took notice of all the sounds around him. The birds, the winds, the passing herds and… what was that? Rustling?
Subito was looking for flowers for his new friend when he saw the large pale lion resting near the trunk of the tree. He moved closer very slowly, utterly fascinated by the sight of the sleeping predator. One step, two steps. He almost touched the lion’s tail but at the last second he dared not to take such a risk. As silently as he could, he moved along the lion’s side and then close enough to touch his head if he were to raise his paws. Not that he would, of course. Getting this close to the sleeping beast was far enough… and probably a little too far already, most would argue.
Kuon could tell something small was examining him and the idea amused him. He waited until the timing was perfect to make his move, filled with giddy excitement but perfectly still on the outside. Suddenly, one of the ion’s paws cut the air in the direction of the brown hare, trapping the small creature against the ground.
“My, my… what do we have here?” it was hard to ignore the instinct to kill the prey he had just caught but Kuon had already eaten so he had to wonder if he should take the little thing’s life. He could always save it for later or he could simply release him.
“Eeek!” the brown hare screeched when a massive paw swiftly grabbed his body and held him n the spot. “Wait, wait, wait! No, wait!”
The lion tilted his head, watching the brown hare with curious eyes. Prey beasts shouted and screeched but rarely did they attempt to talk Kuon out of eating them.
“Hmmm? What is it?” This was a little strange. To Kuon, it felt a little weird having a conversation with something he might end up eating later.
“Don’t eat me…” the hare pleaded, slowly growing in confidence when he caught the lion’s expression. “I’m so small, I barely have any meat one me…”
Kuon’s head tilted to the side. What a weird thing for a hare to say. Weird but true. The little furry thing wasn’t much of a meal, was he? Sure he could bury it and save it for later but the fact was that Kuon really wasn’t hungry at the moment and taking a life just for the sake of it didn’t sound very… nice? Fair? Well, something. Of course, the brown hare had taken a pretty big chance getting this close to a grown lion so one could argue that he had it coming.
“I’m Subito.” The hare said quickly when he realized the lion was considering letting him go. “I was picking flowers for my new friend when I saw you. And…”
Oh great. Now he knew the thing’s name. And he had “friends”. Gah! It made Kuon feel guilty and the lion wondered if he was doing it on purpose. It would imply that he was a lot smarter than he looked. Wait, he was already thinking of the hare as a “he” and not a “it”, great.
“You’re a cheeky little snack, aren’t you?” Kuon said, his tone amused, releasing just a little bit of the pressure of his paw, causing his claws to disappear almost completely into his toes. “Well, Subito, it was pretty silly of you to get close to a lion like that. It looks like you have a death wish.”
“No, no…” The word death caused shiver to run through the hare’s spine. The slight decrease in pressure, however, gave him hope, that he might yet live to see another day. “I was... I just… I was curious. I thought you were asleep.”
“Even so…” Kuon started, slowly losing interest in eating the brown snack that he was talking with. “It was pretty silly, little guy.”
“Yes.” Subito admitted with a tentative smile. Little guy definitely sounded better than snack. “I really thought you were sleeping… if you let me go, maybe I can help you something?”
Kuon laughed at the thought of a big lion like himself receiving help from such a little helpless thing.
“Help me? What could you possibly help me with?” he released the hare nonetheless, because the last thing to ever define Kuon was cruelty and he did not like the sound of someone pleading for his life even if it was clear that the little hare was becoming less nervous. “You’re lucky, little guy, that you were caught by a lion who is not hungry.”
“Subito, not little guy.” The hare said – clearly growing too confident. He hopped to a place just out of the reach of the lion’s paws before he spoke again, his tone honest and even a little gentle. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” Kuon said. Aw, the little hare was kind of cute. He could see why some lions liked to travel with these little walking snacks. “You know… there is something you might be able to do for me. I have something pricking on the back of my mane and I can’t seem to get it out. Maybe your little paws can do the trick…?
“Okay.” With eyes that showed that he clearly didn’t trust the lion completely, Subito moved a little closer and then quickly hopped to the lion’s back. It seemed Kuon wouldn’t change his mind anytime soon so he was safe for now (and still in the lion’s debt). He dived – yes, that was the correct term – into the lion’s mane and proceeded to remove all which did not belong there. Leaves, twigs, seeds and clumps of dead hair fell on the ground until a small mess surrounded the blue-eyed lion’s head. He carefully disentangled a few knots in the process. “How can you have all this in there??”
“Hey, you’re pretty useful, after all. Do you want to stay with me for a while?” Kuon said with a grin as the hare returned to the ground – this time keeping a healthy distance from the large feline.
“I have to get back to my friends…” The hare said quickly but there was something in his eyes that clearly showed he felt tempted.
“Alright, little guy, be careful then.” Kuon said with a laugh looking just a little bit disappointed. He lowered his body to the ground, smiling to the hare.
“Not little guy! Subito, Subito!” the hare corrected with a cheeky grin now that he was sure the lion really had no interest in eating him and turned to leave.
“Alright, alright.” Kuon said as he winked, rolling on the dust as he got ready to take a second nap, watching the hare run off with a small grin.
WC: >1160 words
