A long, tiring yawn escaped from its chilling mouth. Lying atop the little hut, the lion watched over the nameless village in a calming silence.
Rather, he made the silence fall over the village. Shards of translucent glass followed his weary gaze, the rows expanding over them like a barrier.
Smoke filled his big snout, pushing it into a tight cloud of mist that he shot out with a wheeze.
Does he intend to keep watching me?
Below the hut sat Zephyr, who kept staring at the lion with interest; his lime eyes felt soothing.
A grassy field, followed by the gentle mountain winds, the feeling he felt from peering into his mind was of a distinctive scenery that couldn't be found in the West.
Zephyr... Just what could you be thinking about?
Mere days ago, they were ready to cut each other's throats. The defeat he experienced was a big stain on his pride; he hadn't fought a warrior who lived in a battlefield, but a young boy who tricked him with ease.
If only he had realized from the start that the strange purple powder was, in fact, a paralysis poison...
But that didn't matter; he lost, and he accepted it. Only the problem of the child's family remained.
His gaze scanned the village in an instant before a sigh escaped through the terrifying maw.
This is getting tiring.
Rising with his bulky body, lion's paws gently slid off the roof tiles. Nearing the edge, without any visible effort, he leapt down without any sound as if his body was as light as a feather.
"Did something happen?" His legs stopped swinging. "I wanted to see more of that weird stuff!"
"Maybe later, we don't want to starve tonight, do we?"
A sign of understanding flashed across his eyes, an unnoticeable pout appearing just as fast as it left.
Maybe it wasn't a bad thing that I met someone.
Smiling to himself, the lion's drowsy steps headed to the north, the place where they first met. The empty grass plains.
...
"What animal did I catch?" Zephyr's body shook with excitement, making the lion wince to some extent.
This is so... Humiliating
Wet grass brushed against his sun-bleached fur, leaving barely noticeable green marks on its soft side.
Each move of his felt lighter, like weight being taken off his shoulders. Except now it was already doubled, thanks to someone.
Sprawled inside lion's thick fur, Zephyr lay with his eyes closed, his body completely melting into him. Each finger was surrounded by a fluffy apocalypse to which he succumbed.
"What have I done to deserve this..." A look of despair sat on the lion's face. Regretting his life choices.
"Don't worry, it's just eighty more years until I die of old age, so bear with it." The words of consolation made lion's tears gather.
Why do humans live so long?!
During their one-sided argument, they had arrived at the place where Zephyr met him. Footprints still marked the broken grass, and pieces of dark stone lay not far away.
A small hole where a patch of grass was missing stood in the middle of the field like a mark. Its surface is dark and unnatural.
"Can you smell what it caught?"
"I'm not some hound to smell something like-" Lion's mouth froze before somehow clicking his tongue.
"It's a deer." He scowled before tilting his torso.
"Oh! Really!?" Zephyr, acting like his polar opposite, bent down at the hole enthusiastically.
Instantaneously, his fingers gripped a weird leaf that stood out from the surrounding grass. The instant he pulled, a stench of blood swept across them from beneath.
"I still can't believe my kind fell for something so... Barbaric," Lion remarked with a shake of his head.
His neck stretched down, jaws closing in on the dead deer that lay inside the hole.
Easily pulling the deer up, blood sprayed all over the grass, making them question if Zephyr was more suited for this.
"Uim ghoung gho pwaye ih in e ut."
(I'm going to place it in the hut) Mumbling to Zephyr, Lion's body turned hastily to the village, its pace seemingly faster than before.
Did he inhale some of the poison?
Zephyr thought briefly; he wasn't worried for the mountain king, whose poison immunity had risen since their fight. It was scary how fast his body developed antibodies.
Turning his attention to the trap, a deep circular hole with a size of one square meter spread in front of him. Rocks hid its earthy walls, placed in rows against themself and ending at the surface.
Bottom was filled with wooden stakes, each edge sharpened with precision and tested before usage.
Nice.
Getting a mental compliment, Zephyr pulled on a pouch he had taken earlier, its exterior filled with different patches of leather, the strings that held them together still stood out in clear sight, making it obvious the pouch was handmade.
Barely fitting in his two hands, a pile of apples tumbled next to his knees, almost falling into the hole. Clean cloth wrapped around his palm as he tucked down and wiped each spike until the smell was gone or at least weak enough not to notice.
Grabbing onto the cover, he pulled it across the hole, making it look as if there was no opening to begin with.
Careful... Careful...
Whispering under his nose, each apple was placed in the middle of the cover. Even though they stood out a lot, animals like deer, rabbits, or even boars wouldn't suspect it when hunger takes over.
Finishing placing each apple in a pile, he opened the little bottle which was filled with purple glitter-like powder.
Its smell was enough to make Zephyr feel dizzy.
D-don't breathe
His hands moved swiftly, sprinkling the powder on the apples before putting the cap back with a pop.
Phew
The trap was ready for its next victim.
...
Sun trailed beyond the powdery mountains,maple sky following right after, a dark glow overtaking a starry sky.
Intense moonlight glow fell across the world, three Moons hanging together on the horizon, each smaller than the last.
Crickets chirping came from tall patches of grass, it's melodic tone soothing to Zephyr's ears.
"You need to cook it properly! Do you want to be paralyzed again or enjoy the food for once?"
"I'd rather be paralyzed than spend time with you..."
"What did you just say?!"
"Nothing."
Under the three moons, across a big campfire sat Zephyr, the lion, and their new friend, the Deer.
Zephyr's scolding didn't stop; the ignorant lion kept trying to take a big chunk of the deer's flesh and go to sleep with his belly satisfied. But Zephyr insisted that cooking the meat would taste way better than consuming it raw.
Thus, a stick was put into its big mouth like a cigar. Its body was stuck between two of his fangs, a scrawny cut of meat hung on the sharp end, fire engulfing it entirely.
"Don't hold it so close; you need to be patient. You know what it means, right?"
"Yesh..."
Each crackle made his eyes twitch, the smell of tender meat starting to come off the meat.
"Can I eat it now?" Impatient lion turned to Zephyr, who, with a smile, denied him.
The meat had already gained a deep brown color, and its fat started to sizzle with a distinctive sound.
"Not yet." But Zephyr, who just finished grilling his cut, turned to the lion with a look of sympathy.
"I know it's hard being fat, but you need to enjoy your food." He took a bite of charred meat, and a loud crunch echoed.