A Strange Visitor

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The lions stopped to observe the little creature sitting in the middle of clearing, lightened by the moonlight. The lions affected by it’s power, though their bodies transformed, seemed completely unfazed and went on about their lives without a second thought. Auris and Shadow exchanged looks. They told each other to stay on guard and to be careful.

- Nothing of this sort happened in your world?

Shadow asked conversationally, almost hoping the answer would be something along the lines of “sure, it’s completely normal and nothing to worry about”, but Auris shook his head for no.

They made their way through the trees, as the little black bunny scurried off. More forces of the Kingscardine guard joined them. They could hear their steps and see their manes between the bushes and trees, as the pride divided into smaller groups and circled the area.

The greenery became thicker and the sun was nearly rising, when Auris and Shadow finally stopped and hid behind a fallen log, having heard footsteps coming from the other direction. The creature was definitely larger than a rabbit and walked without worrying about staying silent. Soon after, they saw the familiar face of Ejszaka.

- Ejsza - Auris was the first one to come out of hiding. - What are you doing here?

The lioness stood still for a while, her eyes carefully observing Auris from his paws to the tips of his ears.

- What are you doing here? - she finally said with a little jolt, as if her own voice surprised her.

- Something strange fell from the sky so we’re investigating it with the rest of Kingscardine guard. And, uh… - he seemed confused for a moment. - My friend was with me when it happened. He’s a civilian, but he’s helping me look for it.

Shadow joined them with a little nod in Ejsza’s direction.

- Hey Ejsza.

- Hey Ejsza - she replied and Shadow didn’t think much of it because she was always strange and a dork.

- You two know each other? - Auris’ eyes darted between them, his look a little suspicious.

Shadow nodded, but stayed silent. Auris waited for a moment longer, but his friend wasn’t eager to elaborate, so he focused his attention back on the lioness.

- Are you investigating too?

She analysed the question a little longer than seemed necessary, but finally answered with a short:

- I am investigating.

After that she stayed quiet, while Auris and Shadow debated what to do and searched through the shrubbery. When the lights of the sun started touching their furs they decided to return back to headquarters. They were tired, had no leads and felt it was better to let everyone know what happened rather then try and continue the search. Perhaps other parties had better luck and found some useful information.

Ejsza stayed unnaturally quiet and calm on their way back. Auris suspected she acted strange because the events of the night had a big impact on her. Or perhaps she was just sleep deprived. They left Shadow on the outskirts of the city before heading into it’s centre.

- I’ll meet you back at base - he said, before turning away.

- Wait… you mean… - Auris was visibly uncomfortable. He was shifting his weigh from one paw to the other, looking straight at Shadow and trying to point at Ejsza with his head, without her noticing. - …both of us?

- Yup. See you.

Auris was left confused. He was certain that he was the only one who knew about Shadow’s secret base and never thought he would invite Ejsza into it just like that. It took him months to gain his trust and be invited in. He look curiously at Ejsza who had a soft smile on her face. She wasn’t paying attention to him, but instead looking around almost as if she’d never seen the place before. Shadow never mentioned he knew her. What exactly was their relationship?

The lioness still acted strange when they were at the headquarters reporting back to the captain. They were the second to last party to return, leaving only one still searching for the creature. They learnt that noone had better luck than them and returned empty handed. They signed out for the day and Auris led Ejszaka to Shadow’s base. She was being a little reluctant, wanting to stay in the city and explore, but he eventually managed to convince her. She was definitely acting weird.

It took no more than a few steps into the cave to make them both jump up in surprise. A net fell from the ceiling, covering the dark lioness, Auris barely managed to avoid it. Despite tiredness, his senses sharpened. He was already on high alert, knowing that there’s an unknown being from space somewhere within the pride lands, but finding a trap in a base that was supposed to be secret to anyone but him and Shadow strengthened it even more. The blue lion rolled over to the wall and quickly got back up on it’s feet. Shadow was standing there, smiling triumphantly.

- What’s going on?!

Before he could get an answer he felt something strange behind his back. Fear crept into his bones, but he was trained to fight it. He turned his head around and saw Ejszaka growling from under the net. He never saw her angry before, but now her fur was standing on ends, her teeth bared and her eyes glowing red.

- Look out!

Shadow jumped towards Auris and dragged him to get behind cover, as Ejsza tore the net from herself and roared, sending an echo throughout the cave. They expected her to launch at them, but instead she turned completely still. She seemed to suck the sound and light from around her. Her eyes closed and they saw movement as if her own shadow was trying to run away from her. It was the black bunny they saw before. It escaped into the greenery outside the cave while Ejsza’s body flopped unconscious to the ground.

They sat in silence for a while then Shadow broke it.

- That’s also not a custom from your world, is it?

Auris slowly shook his head and together they went to help the lioness.