She'd returned to the bushes, long after Shinda had left the vicinity. Tukutu knew her companion would stay faithful to her order, and just as she expected, he was there, waiting for her. The goddess knew she was blessed to have such a dedicated follower, for none could compare, in her opinion, to Tapelo.
"Did you see that?" She inquired cheerfully, fully excited and giddy over the way her plan was going.
The small hare nodded his head, his long ears bobbing as he did so. "I did, I did!" came the equally ecstatic response. It had been many seasons since he and his goddess had played pranks together, and he was terribly eager to get back into the swing of things and pick up where they had left off.
Rubbing his two tiny paws together, he looked up towards the disguised lioness. "So what's the plan, Tu? Are you going to start up a war? I do so horribly love a good war!"
The larger creature grinned, her shape shifting as it returned to her normal, godly state.
"From the looks of things, I'm not sure I even need to instigate the war. Perhaps nudge it, but there's no need for me to start it."
Which was true, in fact, for while Tukutu had been busily gathering all the facts and information she could about the Mizimu'Tungika (for the really really good pranks, like Shinda's, always required some fact checking and knowledge to execute them!), she had noticed something else, something that was passing by, unnoticed, by the majority of pride members.
There was revolt in the midst.
"You won't have to?" the tiny voice chimed in, his ears perking with curiosity. "What are you keepin' from me, Tu? Whatcha know that you haven't been sharing?!"
The rabbit hmphed at her, folding his arms across his chest as a sign of irritation. It wasn't like Tukutu to withhold information from her tiny cohort, though, despite the current situation, he trusted her. She'd never let him down in the past, and heck, she was immortal right? So that meant she HAD to have countless years worth of practice in all of this!
"Calm down, Tapelo," she chided, tsking at her bunny buddy. "You know I tell you everything; don't get so worked up!"
Leaning over, she gently pushed her paw against him, nudging him playfully. "It's not my fault I'm a much better spotter than you are!"
Spotting she was good at, and spotted she had. During one of her many flights around the pride's land (for who in their right mind would walk, if you had a pair of wings?), she had noticed things. Lions, both unfamiliar and all too close to home. Apparently all was not well in the Mizimu'Tungika, nor well on the outskirts, for what some lions had in mind.
"There are others out there, Tapelo," she explained, nodding her head in a general direction. "Others that are unhappy. I sense that even if we had not arrived in this land when we had, that a war would have begun, regardless."
"Others?" he echoed, musing to himself. "Hmmm."
He hadn't thought about that before. His attention focused solely on their mischief, it had never occurred to him that there might... well, that there might already be drastic issues surfacing in the pride that had nothing to do with either of them. Like the other prides they had infiltrated, he'd naturally assumed that all was well. It was rather refreshing, actually, to be able to work with a bit of trouble that was already started!
"But what about Shinda?" he asked, his paw pointing out in the direction the young lioness had left in. "Why bother with her if there are others we could assist?"
"The Mizimu are a strong pride," she reminded him, lowering herself down to the ground. It had been an eventful morning, so now it was time to rest, in her opinion. Who knew what was to come her way, in means of mischief, so she intended on being fully prepared for such an occasion. "And a pride as strong as theirs would be able to take down any opposing force that attacked them from the outside. But if you make their foundation weaker, nudge and crack the inside, then they'll fall apart on the inside."
The black and orange rabbit nodded his head, finally understanding. "Ohhh, I gotcha, I gotcha! If you make havoc on the inside, then they're going to be too distracted and fussy with all that stuff to be prepared to take on the outside stuff, right?"
His paws waved around wildly as he sat back on his haunches. Man, how he loved coming up with a good plan!
"Well, yes." Tukutu laughed, thoroughly enjoying the rabbit's excitement. "In a way, that's right. Though I'm hoping that we can fool around with both sides, when the time comes. It wouldn't be very much fun at all if we put only one team at a disadvantage. I figure we'll treat good 'ol Jinichongo to a few more tricks, and then plan for some large-scaled fun for either side."
Motioning her paw, she directed her companion closer. While the brush was thick, should any creature pass by, they would merely see a lion and hare. If they questioned it from there, then Tukutu would just have some... unexpected fun. But now, it was time to sleep.
Tapelo was quite happy with how the scheme was going so far, and was excited to see how it would turn out, once a few more tricks were pulled. While he wasn't tired (after all, he'd been sitting in the brush all day!), he knew better than to argue with a goddess. A few hops in her direction, and he was nestled up against her warm, dark fur. It wasn't long before he noticed the change in her breathing, and that she was fast asleep. Sleep would not come to his eyes, but that was alright. He wasn't strong, he wasn't big, but he could watch, and he would watch, and protect his friend in any way he could while she rested.
Because that's what best friends were for.
