Lion padded into the grocery store early in the morning. The few people inside and the cashier continued with their routine, pretending to ignore Lion. Lion knew, though, he was absolutely impossible to miss. With his gorgeous coral locks and downy-soft fur, he was a complete show stopper.
A sharp prick twinged up his butt, sending little prickles up his haunches. "Pearl must still be following me, but never mind. I'll still get the object of my desire!" soliloquized Lion mentally. Another sharp prick ran up his butt.
"Lion! Stop stealing! I'm running out of money to pay for your misdeeds!" Pearl shoved past Lion's butt, squeezing past the doorframe, to stumble and fall when Lion moved forward. Lion sniffed around, and proceeded leisurely through the shop to the pet food aisle. Gathering several large bags of cat food, Lion left the store.
"Li-ONNN!" yelled Pearl, chasing him to the mouth of the door. Pearl halted right there, spun around, and poured cash on the cashiers' desks. "Here!"
As she ran out, in pursuit of Lion, a cashier yelled after her, "Hey, Lady! You paid us waaay too much!"
Lion loped back across the beach, shooting underneath the foundation of the Beach House to evade Pearl. His gambit worked-Pearl thundered up the steps, searching through the house and Temple. When everything was quiet, Lion emerged, and looked over at the horizon.
The sun was hovering just over the horizon. Lion collapsed his back legs, folding them neatly under his body. Lion stayed at the same spot, watching the sun descend, painting the sky around it different colors. He didn't move when Pearl stomped up to him, and began swatting him with her spear. He didn't move when Steven came outside to calm Pearl, and bring her inside.
"We're gonna play a game!" said Steven. "Wanna come?"
"Nah," thought Lion.
A moment passed. Steven walked around to the front of Lion. His answer given, Lion ignored Steven.
"Um, Lion? I'm going inside. If you wanna join, just come inside!" Steven tried again.
"Nope," thought Lion. Steven went inside after a bit, still watching Lion.
The sun descended, and, when the sky was as dark as it would ever get, Lion arose. The night was a black cloak, masking evil deeds in the quiet calm of silence. The sky became overcast, and those brilliant twinklers, the stars, were no longer able to thwart Lion's evil presence…
Ornately thinking thus, Lion loped away from the Beach House, he stuck to the shadows as best as he could. He didn't really care that the garish pink of his fur contrasted nicely with the darkness of a building's shadow. Had Pearl cared to track Lion at this time of night, she could have easily done so without a light. Indeed, one creature did exactly that, tracking his movements from underground.
Lion stopped spinning poetry in his head as he reached the wharfs of Beach City. Standing quietly right by a flickering streetlamp, Onion waited for Lion. In his hands he held the handle of a large wagon, full to the brim with plants of a very special kind.
Lion had brought something special for Onion in a bag; he summoned it out of his pocket dimension, and showed it to Onion. Onion nodded, and Lion replaced the treat. Taking the handle in his jaws, Lion led the wagon and Onion to the Beach House. Once there, Onion took the plants, and planted them all underneath the foundations of the Beach House.
True to his word, Lion summoned the bag out again, and handed it to Onion. Onion eagerly accepted it, and scampered away. Just before he left the foundations, he turned around, and the two conspirators shared a solemn nod.
Lion settled down in the midst of his feline gold, and breathed in its scent, wafting into the house above.
Unbeknownst to him, another creature also loved the scent of catnip.