Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Scrambling For A Meal

Kat was dreaming again.

She saw the mirror above the fireplace shimmer and ripple, drawing her in once more.

Then she heard a sound....
The sound of wind sweeping over vast plains, sighing through the long grass and through the leaves of lush forests.

Light rose, like the break of dawn, and she saw a mighty rock formation, tall and peaked, with an endless sky arching away above it, filled with clouds.
Of course, it was all grayscale...
Again.
But the scenery was breathtaking....

Two figures were walking up the rock formation-- some kind of cliff?
Wait-- no, not figures; at least, not exactly.
They were animals.

One of them, the smaller one, was some kind of primate. Kinda like a baboon, but not entirely...
It had a tail, a long, fleshy face, and a ruff of coarse fur around its face and neck, giving it a kind of wizened, venerable look.
Whatever it was, it loped along a few steps in front of its companion, adding a few cheerful hops to its gait every so often.
For some reason, it was using a-- a walking stick... A long, somewhat crooked wooden staff, with what looked like dried gourds hung near the top.

The other one....
....It was a lion.

Honestly, it was a stunning animal...
Like, if there was such a thing as a 'perfect' specimen of lion, this would have to be it.

He-- and this was definitely a he, because holy shit that mane-- was striding tall and proud, one huge paw placed elegantly in front of the other. His body was strong and muscular, but not overly bulky, still with that undeniable feline elegance.

Again, she saw the grayscale color scheme glitch...
Where the lion's muscles rippled under his coat, there were brief gleams of rich gold, and the folds of his mane seemed to shimmer auburn.
The primate's fur, meanwhile, glinted a faintly bluish gray... And, where the light played off its cheeks and snout, she saw glimpses of blue and red.

The pair, as unlikely as they were, didn't seem uneasy of each other... In fact, they-- they...
Honestly, she was probably anthropomorphizing the shit out of them, but they seemed to be... Friends?
Like, there was really no other way to put it...

Actually, as she watched, they exchanged glances, and-- and... Smiled.
...They SMILED.
They were still animals-- like, very, very clearly animals. But somehow, they had given each other the small, fond smile of old friends.

Before she could think more about that-- or at least TRY to, since she was never any good at lucid dreaming-- the pair was approaching the tip of the rock formation.

A little ways away from the peak, lounging in the shade of a small, scrubby tree that clung stubbornly to the rock's surface, was another animal...
A lioness.

The lion drew closer, and they bonked heads, rubbing up against each other and closing their eyes.

Aw... Were they mates or something? Pair-bonded, or whatever? Could lions pair-bond like housecats?

Lowering her head, the lioness nuzzled at something huddled in her curled forelegs.
The 'something' shifted, wriggling a little... And gleaming a tawny gold.
Like, not glitching a little bit, like the others-- bright, vivid, undeniably golden fur.

After a second, it rolled over, and a little face peeped out, blinking.

....Oh my god, that's the cutest thing I've ever fucking seen.

The 'thing' was a lion cub-- a very, very young one, by all appearances.
It had that distinctive, 'new kitten' look... Chubby, roly-poly body, stumpy legs and tail, and floppy, nubby ears, far down on the sides of its head.
As it looked around at-- presumably-- its parents, she could tell that its eyes probably hadn't been open for very long.
The lion lowered his head, giving it a gentle snoot-boop before stepping back respectfully as the primate approached.