The cave system was not as expansive as Vizuri had imagined.
She and her new friend Ishiwa had come down into this cave by way of a fissure they had found on the surface. They had to pick their way down through some rocks to the cave when it opened up into a larger cave that they had dropped into. From there, they picked a path and started traveling down it. The tunnel they picked was not too interesting, staying wide enough for them both to walk through side by side, most of the time. It was dark, but Vizuri felt a breeze moving down it, and knew they were heading toward the mouth of the cave. They would likely come back out in the pridelands, some small distance away from where they had started.
It was a shame the game had to come to an end, really, as she was really enjoying herself with Ishiwa. Looking back at him, she smiled and noticed that he was covered in dust and grime from the caves and tunnels. He noted the same thing of her, though it was easier to spot on him because, proportionally, more of his fur was lighter than hers. They emerged into the sun light and Vizuri let out a laugh, realizing they had come a lot farther under ground than she had thought.
“How awesome! What a great cave. I want to go back in there and play around again some time soon,” she laughed. Ishiwa nodded his head, feeling a jolt of excitement as he bounced up and down on his paws to emphasize his nod.
“Definitely! It was so big in there. I’m glad you had fun! You look happy, and that’s more than could be said yesterday,” he offered her an understanding look and she smiled sheepishly, feeling bad that it had been so obvious. She was bored, and she supposed she sometimes wore her feelings on her face. Or he was just very keen to notice the emotions of others. Which she would not put past him, at this point. He seemed very simple, maybe a little on the dumb side, but he had a big heart. She knew he did not want to go down into that cave, and only went because she asked him to.
“You are a very nice lion, Ishiwa. I’m very glad to have met you, and hope you’ll consider me one of your friends, okay? I know it’s only been a little while, but I don’t have many friends, anyway, and you seem like a good one to have.”
“I would be happy to! I like hanging out with you too, Vizuri… though I do hope that next time I won’t have to bite your tail. Is it okay?”
She had almost forgotten that while they were exploring, climbing their way down the rocks, she had lost her footing and her paws slipped out from under her. It almost made her fall down into the cave before she wanted to, but Ishiwa managed to catch hold of her tail with his teeth and hold her long enough to give her a chance to scramble back up. It had hurt, though, and she swung her tail behind her to make sure it was not broken. It was still sore, but the pain had lessened substantially from that first shock. He had not managed to tear her fur or skin, at least, so she had to assume that it was just bruised, at worst.
The lioness opted not to even say that.
“I think it’s fine! You didn’t hurt me at all. I’m glad, too, because I was in a lot of trouble. Hey, what do you want to explore next time? Would you go down into that cave with me again? We could go down one of the other paths we didn’t go through: and we can start from here, so we don’t have to climb down that fissure again.”
Ishiwa laughed and nodded his head.
“Of course! I wouldn’t leave something like that unexplored. There could be something beautiful or long lost down there, and we’re the lions that need to find it, right?”
“Exactly.”
Ishiwa chuckled and nodded his head. He sighed and looked up at the sky, which was already darkening. They had been in there for longer than he might have guessed, and he was surprised that time had gone so fast. But they were having fun, and chatting all the while, so it was hard to notice the time passing, really. Now he had a story to share, as well, which was something he was excited about. Though it was not one that could be told to kids, as it was boring and lacked a moral, he at least felt it was interesting enough to share with the lioness that occupied his thoughts more often than not.
“Ishiwa? Where did you go?”
Snapping out of his daze, he looked at Vizuri and smiled sheepishly.
“I’m sorry, I zoned out for a little there. Were you saying something?”
“I was just saying it was nice seeing you again, and I hope you have a good night. You big dork. Hey, thanks for hanging out with me, and I’ll see you sometime, maybe in the next few days? I mean, I’ll just come around here, if this is where you like to hang out.”
He nodded his head, smiling.
“My den is not too far, actually, so there’s a good chance for you to find me around here. I hope we can have more adventures soon, I didn’t realize I needed to have fun like this. You’re more aware of yourself than I am, I guess! But it was good for me. Hey, uhm. Okay, see you later, Vizuri!”
She smiled at him and nodded, wondering if he had a female in his life. If he did, she was a lucky lioness, and Vizuri could only hope to find a lion with similar qualities, though perhaps one that showed a little more interest in her, in that way, than Ishiwa did. She was already sure she was in the friend zone forever.
“Alright, see you next time.”
Word Count: 1,033 in Word
