Day 2: New Friends

Once again, Mei woke up early the following morning, while Gabu was still asleep. Careful not to wake Gabu, Mei crept out of the cave and into the early morning sun. He then made his way across the small stretch of grassland that separated Moonrise Hill from the edge of the forest and into the forest itself. This was the first time Mei had been in this part of the forest since being reunited with Gabu two days prior.

It didn’t take long for Mei to find who he was looking for. In a small clearing, a middle-aged doe with light brown fur was chewing a mouthful of grass. She stopped when she saw Mei and called out to him. “Mei, where have you been? We thought that wolf must have eaten you. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Hi, Greta. I’m sorry to have worried you all. It’s been an eventful couple of days. Where are the others?”

“I’ll go and fetch them. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you, and to hear whatever story you have to tell.” With that, Greta trotted off in search of the few friends Mei had been able to make in the months he spent living in the Emerald Forest.

Mei thought about what he should and shouldn’t tell them. The only thing his friends knew about Gabu was his name and the fact that he and Mei had been separated shortly before Mei arrived in the Emerald Forest. Mei had avoided any mention of Gabu being a wolf, or the reason they had fled their former homes. As far as they knew, Gabu was a goat like Mei, and they would surely want to meet him if Mei told them he’d returned.

Above all else, Mei’s goal was to preserve their friendship, which he would surely lose if he was tactless in telling them Gabu was a wolf, or if he stopped visiting them entirely. He also didn’t want to keep deceiving them indefinitely, which meant, one way or another, he was going to have to tell them the truth about Gabu eventually.

Just as Mei had made up his mind about what to do, out of the bushes leapt a small black rabbit who, upon seeing Mei, threw himself at the goat and wrapped his arms around him.

“Mei! That wolf better count himself lucky you’ve returned to us in one piece. He’d have got the kicking of his life if any harm had come to you.”

Mei laughed. He was always amused at how much Sagi reminded him of Tapu at times. “I’m glad to see you too, Sagi.”

A moment later, two sparrows, one male and one female, came flying into the clearing and landed on the ground in front of Mei. “Mei, you’re alive!” Toto, the male sparrow, said.

“Greta told us you’d come back,” Riri, the female sparrow, said, “but I couldn’t believe it until I saw it for myself. We couldn’t find you anywhere after that wolf attacked the forest.”

Greta herself now stepped into the clearing. “That’s everyone. Now, tell us, Mei, where have you been?”

Sagi unclasped himself from around Mei’s neck and sat on the ground next to Toto and Riri, looking up expectantly at Mei.

“Ah, well, first of all,” Mei said with a sheepish grin, “I’m really sorry for disappearing all of a sudden and making you worry. The truth is that...Gabu’s back. I was running in a panic after I heard a wolf was here, and then I saw him—Gabu, I mean—just standing in the meadow.”

“You found Gabu?” Riri said. “That’s incredible!” The others chimed in with affirmations of their own.

“Yeah, except...he’d lost his memories. He didn’t remember me at all, or even his own name. It wasn’t until I reminded him of our friendship that he went back to being the Gabu I know and...like. It’s been a very emotional experience for both of us. Sorry for not letting you know sooner.” Mei wasn’t sure why he avoided using the word “love.” It just didn’t seem like the right time to tell his friends about that part of their relationship.

“That’s awful,” Toto said. “I’m glad everything worked out in the end, though. When do we get to meet him?”

This was the part of the conversation Mei had been dreading. “I’m sure he’d love to meet you all. We’re taking things one thing at a time for now, but I’ll let you know as soon as he’s ready to. Anyway, enough about me. What’s been happening while I’ve been gone?”

“That wolf’s been happening,” Sagi said darkly. “He was back again yesterday, killed two squirrels. It happened not too far from my burrow too. Dreadful business.”

“Oh no...” Mei was caught off guard by this. He knew that Gabu was taking lives here in the forest, but he didn’t expect his friends to be this closely affected by it. But of course, no predators much larger than foxes had existed in the Emerald Forest for as long as anyone could remember; none of the animals here had grown up with the constant threat of wolf attacks, as Mei had done. Introducing Gabu as his friend would be a lot harder than Mei had expected.

“That’s right,” Greta said. “It happened in broad daylight. Make sure you and Gabu stay safe, okay?”

“We’ll try to be,” Mei said with a weak smile.

Mei, Greta, Sagi, Toto and Riri spent a few more hours wandering around the forest and catching up with each other’s news. It had been a while since the four of them had all met up even before Gabu’s arrival.

Greta had been the first person Mei had met in the Emerald Forest, and she’d enlisted the help of the others in searching for Gabu (by calling out his name; even in his grief at losing Gabu, Mei had been smart enough not to ask other herbivores to help him look for a wolf). It pained Mei to think that Gabu’s arrival, which had brought such great joy to him, was making his friends feel unsafe in their own home.

When Mei felt that he’d been away from Gabu for long enough, he left the group and made his way back to Moonrise Hill. There he found Gabu still asleep, though not for much longer.

“Good morning, Gabu,” Mei said when the wolf finally awoke.

“Good morning, Mei. Did you have a pleasant night?”

“Well, actually, while you were asleep, I’ve been catching up with a few friends I made while you were gone.” Gabu listened intently as Mei told him all about his four friends.

“I’m really glad you were able to make friends so soon, Mei. Although I suppose if you were able to befriend a wolf like me, you could make friends with anyone, right?”

Mei chuckled bashfully. “Maybe not anyone, but it is easier for herbivores to make friends with other herbivores.”

“So they don’t know I’m a wolf? I suppose that’s for the best.”

“I haven’t told them that yet, but I want to. I just need to find the right way to explain it to them. In the meantime, would it be okay if you hunted on the far side of the forest? They’re not used to wolves being in the forest, and I’m worried you might accidentally hurt one of them or someone they know.”

“That would be a disaster,” Gabu said. “Okay, while I’m hunting, I’ll stay as far away from them as I can.”

Gabu and Mei spent the remainder of the day as they did the day prior, wandering around the Emerald Forest and enjoying their newfound freedom. They continued to be cautious when venturing into the forest, especially the part of the forest where Mei’s friends lived, for fear of being spotted, but at least Mei was now being honest with Gabu about the reason for this.

Gabu chose not to go hunting that day, saying that he wasn’t hungry, which Mei almost believed. Mei was glad that the animals of the forest would get a day’s reprieve from the predation of his friend—his lover, Mei corrected himself. Not for the first time, Mei had second thoughts about whether it was right for him to be friends (or anything else) with a person whose existence depended on killing others. These thoughts, however, were as short-lived as they always were. Gabu couldn’t help being a carnivore, and he would still need to eat regardless of whom he was friends with. In fact, wasn’t Mei doing a good thing by redirecting Gabu’s attention away from the people he cared about?