Characters: Zoza, Huria, Pepo
Word Count: 1087

It was rare for Zoza’s visions to take her out and about. Part of her job was being alert to coming avalanches but they were thankfully few and far between. She knew there was no danger of that as she wandered through the snow near the mountains, hunting on a hunch that something out there needed to be found even if she wasn’t clear on what exactly it was. At least wandering around was better than sitting around doing nothing. Zoza was not a big fan of having nothing to do, even if some of the more social aspects of pride life were hard for her. Her youth as a captive wife-to-be still affected her, though less and less as time went on.

“Have you seen anything unusual?” she called out to her companion.

Huria was much lighter and had a much easier time moving over the snow- she was simply built for it. She wandered an unpredictable path in a large area surrounding where Zoza led them, looking for anything that might prove to be what they sought.

“Nothing,” the hare called back, “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

Despite the vague quality of this vision, Huria would never doubt her lioness. Her talents were improving, and the more she saw the harder it seemed to be to catch the important details. Something else to keep working on.. but never for a minute would the hare take that to mean it wasn’t worth taking seriously!

“I’m sure,” Zoza said, though she didn’t sound it- and she kept on moving.

Huria nodded and followed along, continuing her wide perimeter check around the lioness despite the increasing feeling of futility. There was something here, she just couldn’t find it! She knew it. Deciding to take matters into her own paws, she raced in a little circle and took off at full tilt in the direction Zoza was walking. Startled, the lioness stopped and watched as the hare ran--

“Wait, watch out--”

Huria’s burst of energy was short lived and she flopped face-first into the snow in defeat, waiting right where she landed for Zoza to catch up to her. The lioness shook her head and smiled, picking up the pace- and then she spotted a little dark spot hopping along through the snow, right up to where Huria lay. The hare didn’t sense anything until it was too late and a tiny little nose was leaning in close, whiskers tickling her ears.

“Aiiiie!” Huria screeched, jumping up and falling back in one startled motion-- only to realize the ‘danger’ was the little puffball of a hare they had met not long ago, Pepo. And he was looking quite curious (and a bit taken aback) by her reaction.

“You OK?” he asked.

Zoza sighed and chuckled to herself, resuming her walk up to the hares. She wondered if Swara was around but had a feeling Pepo was the reason they were actually here. There was no knowing why she had seen him wandering away from home yet again but she felt the immediate relief of a subconscious goal achieved.

“P-p-pepo!” Huria stammered through gasps for breath, “You scared me! What are you doing out here!”

“You ran away from Swara again, didn’t you?” Zoza said, catching up to the hares as Huria was standing herself back up and brushing off the snow and Pepo was snickering behind a tiny paw, “Is this another game she doesn’t know she’s playing with you?”

Pepo stopped laughing and slowly dropped his paw as he looked up at Zoza innocently.

“She- she knows!” he squeaked, not at all convincing, “She likes playing games with me!”

Huria blinked and looked from Pepo to Zoza and back again.

“Are you sure?” she asked, “Do you know where we are? We’re actually pretty far away right now, Pepo.”

The hare was tense, ready to chase him if the fuzzball tried to make a run for it now- completely and utterly unconvinced of his safety way out here on his own. But Zoza was pretty relaxed, not at all expecting an escape attempt. So she waited to see if he answered.

Pepo reared up on his hind feet and looked around them.

“We’re not that far away,” he said, “I know the way back, it’s just that way.”

He gestured in the direction he had come, pouting at Huria. He didn’t like being lectured or babied. He was small but he wasn’t stupid, he knew his way home from here. Nobody gave him a chance to show it, that wasn’t his fault!

Huria wasn’t convinced and looked to Zoza, while Zoza simply looked on with a soft smile.

“You’re right,” she said, “But if you’re this much better at your games than Swara, maybe you should ease up so she won’t feel as bad. Nobody likes to lose, you’d make her feel a little bit better if you didn’t let yourself get this far ahead.”

It was a different tactic than simply scolding him for playing ‘surprise’ games with his lion companion, or getting so far away from home. He was clearly intent on playing this kind of game with Swara, maybe the best they could hope for until he grew up a little more was “helping” her not feel so bad about losing the games. Huria made a face, understanding what Zoza was trying to do but not so sure about how it would work. Pepo looked up at the lioness thoughtfully, considering what she told him. Swara did usually get pretty upset about losing.. maybe if he didn’t win by soooo much, she wouldn’t get as mad.

“You think so?” he asked, tilting his head, “She does get mad when she loses..”

Zoza nodded, while Huria stared.

“Why don’t you walk back home with us,” she said, “We’ll help you keep an eye out for Swara and get somewhere she actually has a chance at finding you. OK?”

Pepo hesitated but then nodded.

“OK.”

Huria sighed, smiling up at Zoza, and finally catching up to the fact that this must have been what they were looking for.. and she was impressed that the lioness had found a way to convince the kitten to head home without causing a fuss. She wasn’t expecting that at all.

“Let’s go, then,” Zoza said, smiling at Huria and Pepo and turning to lead the way home, “If you see Swara, Huria, let us know.”

Huria nodded and hopped ahead of the others to lead the way.

Fin!