The hare lay stretched out on her side in the fading moonlight, her small body motionless save the gentle rhythmic breathing of sleep. Occasionally a dainty white paw might twitch, or a soft black ear would flick, her eyelids fluttering as she dreamed. She’d been like this for most of the night, since the sun went down. But the twitches and flicks came with more and more frequency as the night wore on, occasionally accompanied by a soft whimper or moan.
“Nooo…” she whimpered, one hind foot kicking sharply out as she squirmed and rolled over in the dew-damp grass.
Keena rested comfortably, her muzzle resting lightly on her soft cream-tipped paws as she slept. Her body was still, golden eyes closed and every inch of her relaxed. Occasionally an ear would perk slightly, in response to some sound, but always it relaxed to lay back with its mate. Her coat, with its pale tan and cream markings and soft warm golden spots, all but glowed in the silvery white light of the moon.
The lioness seemed content for the moment, breathing softly and laying still. Right up until the smallish companion she’d met only a few days before lashed out with a foot that caught her right in the ribs. With a small grunt of sleepy surprise, Keena blinked her eyes open, her ears lifting at the whimpered moan. Lifting her head, she yawned hugely, the moon was just leaving the highest point of the sky, it was middle night. Drowsily puzzled, she turned her attention on her twitching and moaning companion, her sleep-fuddled mind rather at a loss as to what to do at the moment.
Oblivious to her large friend’s confused awakening, Kisun squirmed and lashed out in the throes of some dream much different from Keena’s formerly contented rest. Her features, usually so bright with carefree laughter, were scrunched and creased in some expression that was difficult to read. Worry? Fear? Pain? Rage? None of them expressions that the hare ever seemed to wear under the bright sun, they were nigh unrecognizable now.
Abruptly, for no reason apparent at all, she stopped, her body going limp on the ground, her eyes barely cracked open but glazed still with sleep. She panted slightly, as though she’d run a great distance, though she had admittedly been thrashing about rather a lot. She stared, flanks heaving, unseeingly into the darkness.
Keena was…concerned. Confused and sleepy and puzzled and really rather tired. But concerned nonetheless. Her friend, though she did not pretend a scant handful of days was enough to really get to know a person, was not acting much like herself. She was usually such a bright, happy soul with not a care in the world. To see her thus distraught, even if it was naught but a dream, was worrisome.
Ears perked anxiously forward, waiting for some kind of reaction that never came, Keena finally rose to her feet. Padding softly the few steps her little friend had thrashed away, she lowered her muzzle to nudge the hare gently.
“Hey,” she called softly, golden eyes soft with worry as she waited for Kisun to wake.
Kisun was still for a long time, breathing hard but otherwise motionless. Her gaze was locked on some sight only she could see. Whatever it was, it seemed to hold her paralyzed, unseeing eyes clouded with pain and glazed with sleep. That is, until Keena called for her.
Clearly, the hare had quite forgotten she had a companion for the night. When her eyes shifted to the lioness leaning over her, she let out a fierce cry and lashed out with both hind feet. Her body twisted quickly, as though she planned to bolt, but she tangled herself up before she could rise and wound up sprawled and quivering on the ground instead, still trying to get up or fight back, it was hard to tell which.
Keena yelped in surprise and jerked to her feet, moving her poor scratched nose out of kicking range. It stung, hares have quite powerful muscles in their hind legs and that had been some kick Kisun had inflicted. Not to mention that her nose wasn’t any more immune to attack than the hare’s own twitchy little black one.
“Kisun!” she cried, lifting a paw to her nose, the soft cream colored toes came away with a few small streaks of scarlet. “Kisun, wake up!” Surely this was some horrible nightmare her friend was caught in the throes of…
Well there was a good smack there! A good smack to teach that oversized cat that she was not a suitable snack. Maybe another kick would learn the feline monster to leave Kisun and her kind alone in the future! The hare was just finding her feet when the familiar voice reached her long dark ears. They flicked slightly, before relaxing down along her shoulders.
“Keena?” the hare blinked, cocking her head to the side. “What are you doing?”
Because really, walking about on three paws with the fourth on her nose was quite silly. Unless it was fun, if it was fun then Kisun would have to…try…too… no.
No this wasn’t working. She was feeling very decidedly not cheerful at the moment. Maybe in a little while she’d be feeling less herself enough to have some fun. But right now…? The hare sighed, looking uncharacteristically glum. Though, really, it was just that she rarely acted anywhere near the same way that she felt.
Keena blinked, surprised and worried by her friend’s uncharacteristically somber tone. She had no way of knowing that the hare was not the playful carefree and slightly absentminded creature that she seemed to be. All the lioness could tell was that something was wrong, and things surely had to be very wrong to bring Kisun down.
“You were tossing and turning,” she said softly, no longer worried about avoiding another sharp kick Keena moved to come closer to the usually cheerful hare, “I thought you might be having a bad dream…” But when she tried to wake her up she’d gotten attacked. What had that been? Not that Keena held it against her of course, being so much larger she surely must have startled her small friend.
A bad dream?
Well…she supposed anyone who didn’t know would have mistaken it for such. Certainly it wasn’t a pleasant thing by any stretch. But a mere dream… that it was not. If only it had been no more than a nightmare! Just a terrible dream from which she might have awakened to find four little kits in place of the bloody patch of grass where she’d hidden them. Hah! As if that monster had had any trouble finding them!
She hadn’t thought any harm could come from leaving a moment, just a moment, to find a drink. She’d been so terribly thirsty, but had dreaded leaving them alone since she’d no mate to watch them while she left. But there was not enough water in the dew around the secret little nest to sustain her and her little kits who so depended upon her. So she had left to find a place to sate her thirst…and when she had returned…
“Yes. A bad dream,” Kisun agreed, Keena, bless her gentle heart, she would never suspect it for an untruth. After all, it wasn’t entirely untrue. It had been bad. Just…not a dream.
She’d thought that might be it. Everyone had nightmares, no matter how cheerful they might seem. Keena knew a few of her own that had disturbed what ought to have been an otherwise pleasant night after all. There was no reason to be surprised that Kisun had had one, but it just felt odd to see the hare so frightened and upset.
Not to mention it hurt to see that pained expression on her friend’s features.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, settling to sit beside the small hare, her neck craning to keep her head nearer to her friend though being a lioness she could hardly help leaning over her somewhat. Hares and lionesses were rather not the same size after all.
Talk about it?
She’d never told anyone about it. Never breathed a word, not a single soul knew of it save for her. For her, and whatever monster had devoured her young. So small! They’d been so terribly tiny, their fur bright like the father she’d never seen again. Like flowers. Her tiny precious little flowers. They’d never gotten a chance to bloom.
“No,” the hare sighed, scrunching her shoulders against the welling misery. That it had happened so long ago made no difference to the horrible guilty ache, “No…I don’t want to talk.”
She wanted to forget. Would much rather have been about to forget all of it, as she pretended she had. Which only made her feel that much worse, as though she was betraying her little ones by wanting to rid herself of this pain. They were dead because of her after all.
It was hurting her, keeping it all bottled up. Keena could tell, she knew how this worked. But she also knew trying to dig would only make everything worse right now. She didn’t know what to do really…but if it was just a dream then maybe it wouldn’t do much harm to just let it go.
She still wanted to do something to help, something to comfort her precious little friend. All friends were treasures, little bits of joy and memories. She hated to see anyone hurting, especially not someone she was already fond of.
A soft soothing purr rose in her throat as she ran her tongue over her friend’s back, nuzzling her softly as she licked the hare’s fur. Usually a big predator’s mouth so close would be alarming, but Keena was far from predatory in spite of her species and usual diet. Watching her hunt was an odd thing, she seemed like she must subsist on air or some such thing, so wont was she to befriend anyone or anything.
Kisun sighed, scrunching her shoulders under the big cat’s raspy tongue.
“Goose. I’m not a kitten or cub to coddle,” she grumbled, but aside from huddling into a more comfortable ball, she did not move to escape the lioness’ soothing affections. Her bright blue eyes clouded with unwanted memory. ‘Ichida, Hana, Tsubmi, Kaga… my little ones… I’m so sorry…’ she whispered in her mind as her eyes slowly drifted shut. It wasn’t long after that she’d cuddled sleeping against her considerably larger friend’s warm side, no longer fretting over dark memories but content in her dreaming as any like her could be.
Keena had no objections to being called after a bird. It was a bit silly, but that had been the implication had it not? Still. She didn’t like to see a friend hurting, even if that friend was no kind of feline at all. Poor Kisun, if only there were something more she could do to help.
But the hare had no desire to speak of whatever it was that had disturbed her dreams. As the small body relaxed against her flank, Keena stopped grooming her little friend and instead curled herself around the hare as though she protected a cub. She’d never had a little one of her own, and Kisun would probably call her a goose again for comparing her to a baby lion. But the maternal instinct seemed to think this was the best thing to do. Kisun could say or not in the morning, most likely the irrepressibly outgoing hare would have quite forgotten her fretful dream. And Keena, worried though she was, would not remind her of it.
Stifling another yawn, she flicked her tail over her cream colored toes, lowered her muzzle to rest on her forepaws, and let her golden eyes slide shut as sleep slipped over her once more.
Fin