Day 33: Reunion

From the foothills, it took Mei only four days to reach the outskirts of Para Para Fields, the vast expanse of grassland where Kuro-san and the other black goats lived. After spending the night in the adjoining forest, Mei made his way into Para Para Fields in search of the other goats.

It wasn’t long before he crested a hill and saw the Para Para goat herd grazing in the meadow. He spotted Mii and Grandma almost immediately, talking animatedly with Kuro-san on the far side of the meadow. Overjoyed to see them again, Mei ran towards them.

When Mii and Grandma spotted him, they ran up to meet him. Kuro-san, too, seemed pleased to see Mei, and followed at a respectful distance.

“Mei,” Grandma exclaimed, “I’m so glad to see you alive!”

“We thought we’d never see you again,” Mii said.

“Hello, Grandma, Mii. I’m really glad to see you too. I wasn’t sure you’d want to hear from me again after what happened.”

“I’m so, so sorry for letting that happen,” Grandma said. “If I’d known you were going to jump into that river, I would never have let the Elder force you into that situation. And you’ve been living on your own all this time!”

“Not quite on my own,” Mei said.

Kuro-san approached. “Sorry to interrupt, but did I hear correctly that you jumped into a river?”

“You really don’t know what happened?” Mei asked.

“Your grandmother wanted to tell me, but I asked her to wait since the birds said you wanted to tell me yourself.”

“That’s right,” Mei said, “and I suppose I shouldn’t keep it from you any longer. Kuro-san, do you remember that day you visited Sawa Sawa Mountain? You helped me find a four-leafed clover for my friend.”

“I do remember. I had a great time searching for it with you,” Kuro-san said.

“The friend the clover was for...” Mei glanced towards Grandma and Mii, who looked apprehensive but curious. “His name is Gabu, and he’s a wolf.”

Kuro-san’s eyes widened. He froze to the spot.

“When the rest of my herd found out, the Elder kicked me out, sort of. It’s a long story. I ran away with Gabu and I’ve been living with him ever since.”

Kuro-san started looking around frantically. The other two goats also looked nervous.

“Gabu isn’t here. He didn’t come with me on this visit,” Mei said. “Would it be all right if I told you the entire story? Mii and Grandma haven’t heard the whole thing yet either.”

Kuro-san stared at Mei in amazement, but was now smiling. “You’ve been friends with a wolf since before we met, and now you’re living with him? If anyone else had told me that, Mei-san, I don’t think I would have believed them.”

“Yep!” Mei said with a smile, relieved that Kuro-san was taking the news well. “Not only that. Gabu was the one who led us through the forest the first time we visited you here.”

“The wolf was there in the forest with us?!” Mii exclaimed. “Wait, was he one of the wolves that almost ate Tapu on the way back?”

Mei had forgotten about that. “Oh, um, he was actually pretending to chase Tapu so that the other wolf wouldn’t eat him, but yes. He’d been secretly protecting all of us from the other wolves ever since we met. You all owe a lot more to him than you know.”

“There were fewer wolf attacks than I would have expected for that time of year,” Grandma said.

“Please tell us the story of how you and the wolf met, Mei-san,” Kuro-san said. “I’ve never known a wolf to treat a goat as anything other than food, but this wolf sounds different.”

“It happened one evening in the late summer of last year. That day the storm came out of nowhere and I didn’t get back until that night,” Mei said to Mii and Grandma.

Mei told them the story of how he and Gabu had met in the abandoned barn, right up to how Mei had been seen going into a cave with the wolf by an elderly goat from Mei’s herd.

“So that’s when everyone found out about us,” Mei said. “The Elder was worried that Gabu might be using me to get information about the herd. He said that the only way I would be allowed to see Gabu again was if I tricked him into telling me about the wolves’ hunting patterns.”

“That information would do the goats a lot of good,” Kuro-san said. “It could save lives.”

“Except if the Sawa Sawa goats became too difficult to hunt, because we knew the wolves’ plans,” Mei said, “the wolves would just hunt and kill other animals instead. Since we’re the biggest animals around, that would mean more animals would have to die to make up for us. Either that, or the wolves would starve.” The other three goats looked slightly shocked at this. “Sorry, I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing a lot lately. I met a friend in the Emerald Forest who’s teaching us about philosophy and how it relates to hunting. It’s a lot more complicated when you see it from the wolves’ point of view, since they don’t have any choice but to hunt.”

Mei went on to tell them the rest of the story: how he and Gabu had jumped into the river to run away together, had gotten separated, and were finally reunited under the light of the full moon.

“Ever since that night, Gabu and I have been living together in the Emerald Forest. We eventually told the other animals of the forest about us, and we’ve made some really good friends. Toto and Riri, the sparrows who delivered those messages to you, were two of the first people we told, and they accepted us from the start.”

Grandma chuckled. “Those two did make quite a fuss when they met the Elder. I’ve never seen him look so timid.”

“That truly is an incredible story,” Kuro-san said. “Thank you for coming all this way to share it with me. I’m deeply sorry for everything you and Gabu-san have had to endure.”

Mei spent the rest of the day catching up with Mii, Grandma and Kuro-san. The situation in Sawa Sawa Mountain was much as the sparrows had said; with the leader of the wolves and some of the strongest pack members dead, the pack wasn’t organised enough to be a serious threat to the goats.

Tapu had refused to go with Mii and Grandma to see Mei, and Grandma had gotten angry at him. Most of the other goats were indifferent to Mei now that the drama seemed to be over. While Mei wouldn’t be turned away if he did go back, it sounded like things would never be quite the same as they had once been.

More than once, Grandma asked if Mei would come back to Sawa Sawa Mountain permanently. Mei said that he wouldn’t even consider it unless Gabu was allowed to live there too, alongside the goats, which Grandma said wouldn’t be possible. Mei didn’t regret this; he was better off living with Gabu in the Emerald Forest.

Kuro-san invited Mei to spend a few days in Para Para Fields before he went back, which Mei gladly accepted.