Unfortunately, the tale of monsters and horrifying beings wasn't too uncommon in Chasing Wind's pride. Every child had heard the story of the massive king whom wore their fathers jawbone on their head as a crown, seeking to bathe the land in blood. Or the myth of terrifying demonic and angelic lions, complete with wings and horns, ready to swoop up any cub from their mothers and fathers to indoctrinate them in the war. Simply put: these are all tall tales, much like this one that's ravaging the pride currently.

Absurdity at its finest- a grand were-rabbit, ready to consume wily children as payback for the pride's rabid consumption of hares and bunnies over the season. Now, obviously the queens had dismissed this claim- after all, these prey animals could only get so big. They told their little ones and their siblings these things- in hopes the cubs and the younger adolescents understand. Simply put, the blind king couldn't see that he still had the mask on, and made the mistake of returning adorned in the rabbit fluff.

Now, what do children and meddling kids do when an adult tells them something outlandish isn't quite as scary as first thought?

Why, they assume the parents are lying, of course.

Over the entirety of mid-bloom, or what humans may call "spring"- the pride's youngest would hide away from any rabbit or hare they saw, and would ironically play a game- where one cub is the "were-rabbit" and would tackle the other kids and proceed to "eat" them, then carve their skulls with intricate designs, much like the odd egg their father would bring on occasion.

Now, Chasing Wind didn't find a problem with this- in fact the monarch found this amusing, unlike many in his pride. He would play along, sparking stories of him encountering the were-rabbit and barely escaping unscathed thanks to his incredible hearing. Oh how the cubs idolized him and these fables- they even adapted their game to match his tales. The cubs would crush marula fruits and smear their faces in it, caking their eyelids shut for a few minutes so they too could be blind, at least during the duration of the game. Then, they would use their hearing to try and pinpoint the growling and snarling were-rabbit, hopefully stifling their excited giggles, and escape or hide from them.

Once mid-bloom had dwindled, so did the rodent population. Fewer and fewer bunnies had run underfoot, fewer reason for the children of the pride to believe they were potentially in danger. The roar and excitement of the championships quickly overtook their fear of the were-rabbit, and the story was drowned out by the anticipation of seeing their father fight opponents twice his size. Thankfully, this seemed to be the end of this misguided imagination, but surely these cubs will make something else up to scare themselves with.

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