The grass was warm and cry, just the way Falas'Rana liked in. In her rock-side home, fresh grass was hard to come by, but for her it was a small loss. The itchy satisfaction in rolling in a nice patch of yellowing grass was second to none, in her opinion. All the little pokey nubs rubbing against her fur, removing the bugs that bothered her? What could be better than that?
That was why she found herself on her back, rubbing her shoulders against the small patch of dying grass she had discovered on her morning hunt. Since she was back down to only needing to hunt for one, getting food wasn’t a top priority. Not when there was fun to be had, anyway. Happily, she flopped onto her side, nuzzling her cheeks against the grass before it all more or less disintegrated under her weight. The one flaw in her fun- the grass became squished and useless too quickly.
As she enjoyed herself against the grass, she failed to notice the approach of another lion. He, like her, was blue in color. A devilishly handsome creature, all things considered. He moved with a certain air of certainty, a smirk plastered on his blue face.
A harmless sort of malicious intent lingered in his bright green eyes, suggesting he was not merely out on a stroll, but patrolling for some kind of misdeed. When his lively eyes fell on the female rubbing herself in a patch of grass, he knew he had found his fun.
Grinning, he moved himself towards her, stopping just short of the grass.
“That’s poisonous, you know,” he informed her easily, his voice almost failing to hide the excitement in his lie. She stopped her fun, sitting herself up slowly as she observed the intruding. What had he said?
“It’s poisonous,” he continued, as though he had heard her thoughts, “that grass you’re rolling in. It might look normal to you, but I’m a herb specialist- I can tell that this shade of yellow is from a toxic form of rock grass called… superlicious deathicus foliage….ous.”
“What? But… I didn’t know!” Rana yelped, completely ready to believe this seemingly helpful lion was right about what he suspected of the weeds, “how poisonous is it?! Am I going to die?”
“Yes,” replied the fibbing male, “you are. It’s very terrible for you, I’m sorry. The only way you can cure yourself is to never roll in any other grass again. If you don’t poison yourself further, you’ll be fine. That is… if it’s not too late.” The last couple of words came so dramatically, how could Rana ignore what was being said to her? Surely this male wanted to help her. Still… she didn’t like the idea of never rolling in grass again.
It was her favorite thing to do, after all.
“Is… that any other way?” She asked softly, hoping he might give him some better news. The male looked thoughtful for just a moment, studying her carefully.
“Well….” He said faintly, “by the looks of you, you’re not too bad yet. Soon, though, your fur will all fall out and your skin will turn black. So you could keep on rolling in grass until that starts to happen, I suppose.”
“N-no!” Rana yelped, “please, I don’t want that! But I love rolling in dry grass… isn’t there a way to keep the poison from affecting me?”
“Now that you mention it, I do remember something about there being a type of mud that keeps the poison from seeping into your skin.” He smiled in a naughty way, “do you have any watering holes around here?” Nodding, Rana was quick to lead him to one of the closest watering holes, where the male took pains to slowly and carefully investigate the mud in such a way that she grew even more convinced that he was there to try and help her. Such a nice traveling lion! To think, all her fur would have fallen out if not for his help.
Perhaps it was already falling out. Sometimes she felt a bit lighter in the mornings…
When the male returned to her, she sat straight, expectant. He offered her a faint, very nearly sincere smile. “This mud is the right kind,” he explained, “it has little things in it that shield you from the poison in the yellow death grass. All you need to do is roll around in it thickly before rolling in any grass. Try it out!” Which, of course, she did, first rolling around in the mud before moving back to some supposedly poisoned grass to give it a go. Being coated in mud wasn’t that fun, but it she could still feel the prickly grass against her fur.
“Oh! Well… that’s better than nothing! Thank you…. Hey, I never did get your name. Who are you?”
“Ah!,” he laughed, as though ready to reveal a big secret, “my name is Randajali! Does that ring a bell?”
“No…. not really, sorry,” the female replied softly, tilting her said slightly to the side. The male looked absolutely stunned.
“You haven’t heard of me? But…. But I’m Randa! The mastermind of all villainy! I’m the most evil lion in these lands! Blast! I knew I should have brought Minion. I’m much more recognizable with him by my side…”
“Oh, well I don’t think it’s that… I just don’t think you’re that… wait… did you say villainy? You’re a bad guy?! But… then… all this… with the mud…”
“You looked so stupid rolling around in the mud! Now you’re covered in it! To think some grass could actually poison you! Hahahahah. I can’t believe you fell for that so easily! What a dope!”
“That-! You jerk! I’m going to rip your face off!” snarled the enraged, humiliated female. But the lithe lion was too quick for her, bounding away as a very staged, very evil laugh rang through the cliffs. He got himself several feet from her, grinning back at the mud-coated female.
“Spread the word! I’m taking over these lands! My evil will rule all! Bwahahahahaha!” he wail of a laugh trailed as he took off down the dirt, merrily proclaiming how evil he was while leaving behind a very stunned female in his wake.
