Lalaith was pretty sure he had gotten himself into quite a pickle. He hadn’t meant to, of course, but a batch of poor luck had struck him right at the wrong moment. He had been observing the boarders of the pride, just seeing what lingered near their homelands, when his paw had slipped through some thick roots and he had somehow managed to get himself stuck. Though he tried with all his might to pull his foot free from the roots, he couldn’t seem to manage it, the pain suggesting that he was only making things worse and not better by struggling about like a fool. He didn’t like that he was caught without any means of escape, but it hurt more that a supposed scholar hadn’t been able to watch his footing.

Sighing heavily, he looked back at his paw. It was difficult for him to get to, given his position, so he couldn’t even chew his way through the roots to get to it. That probably would have been the best thing to do for him to escape.

At present, all he could do was stand there awkwardly and hope someone came to free him soon. If not one arrived, well, then he really wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Die of thirst? It had already been a little while, and he was feeling very parched.

Thankfully, his savior had arrived.

Quinlan had been sniffing around for hours, when finally he managed to catch wind of a scent that seemed similar to Melda’s. It was all he had to go on, so he followed it for about half a mile. Then, happily, he spotted the green spotted lion ahead of him in a thick portion of the woods, seemingly perfectly fine. So then he had just decided to be off on his own, worrying his family in the meantime? To have no regard for how others were feeling- Quinlan wanted to give him a piece of his mind. And he would have, too, had he not ventured closer and realized that Lalaith wasn’t just standing there because he wanted to. He was standing there because it seemed like his back paw had been caught in some menacing looking roots, equipped with thick latches in the wood, almost like thorns. Clearly he hadn’t put his paw in their on purpose.

“Ahoy there!” Quinlan called, “I’m here to rescue you!”

“My hero!” Replied Lalaith, “I thought I had found the one uninhabited portion of the rogue lands!” Boy, was he happy to have company. It felt like he would have started to forget what other lions looked like if he had been along much longer.

“Actually, I don’t live here. I was sent here on a mission from your worried mother, Melda. You are Lalaith, right? And not just some other lion with an amazing resemblance to the description I was given?”

“You’re right- I’m Lalaith. And my mom sent you? Ah! How I must have had her so worried! I got trapped and I’ve been stuck here for who knows how long, just hoping that someone would be able to free me if they happened to pass by. In my position, I can’t get to the roots to gnaw myself free.” He frowned, looking back at his trapped appendage again. At least he wasn’t going to have to die now.

That was a plus.

“Well, my name’s Quinlan, and I’m going to get you free now, so you don’t have to worry another hair on that pink mane of yours.” He moved forward, working himself through the trees to get himself close to Lalaith’s paw. While he didn’t like being so intimate with a male’s hind quarters, it was what he needed to do to ensure he had a good position to get the other’s paw free. Once he felt he was set, he made short work of the roots, biting through them with only a small amount of effort. They were tough, sure, but so were his teeth. Anyway, a good magician had to be a master of escape, right?

So he would have shamed himself if he hadn’t been able to free Lalaith.

“Thank you,” breathed the green male, pulling his foot free from the tree as quickly as possible, “that feels a lot better.” He took a moment to look over his paw, making sure nothing was out of place. Thankfully, beyond a few cuts and some heavy bruising, he was perfectly fine. If he had to suffer a slight limp on the way home, that was better than nothing.

“You’re welcome,” Quinlan laughed lightly, “I’m just glad I was happy to find you in time. Your mother really is worried sick about you. I think you should head on back and see how she’s fairing now, you know?”

“What about you? You aren’t going to return to the pride and let her thank you for finding me?” Lalaith asked.

“I got enough thanks from her already, and anyway, this seems more like a thing between son and mother, you know? I would be a third wheel if I got in the way. But I will head back to the pride lands with you, if you don’t mind, just because there’s still a lot there that I haven’t seen yet! Since I’ve been welcomed for the time being, why not do a little exploring, right?”

Lalaith laughed. “I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone like you. Alright, then, let’s head back to the pride together and you can go off and do whatever it is you want to do. I’m not going to stand in your way! But I do thank you again for saving me. Really, I don’t know what I would have done without you showing up.”

“Well, I don’t think it was that much, but you’re more than welcome! And I got a couple new friends now, right? That’s way more than I could have hoped for.” He grinned, as did his green companion. Together, they turned to head back to the pridelands.