The Tekkit Zoo was at a loss. One of their main attractions, Rythian the wolf, wasn't doing well. From day one the majestic black wolf with the strange violet eyes had attracted all sorts of visitors, and he had become iconic to the zoo. Owners Lewis and Simon couldn't have been prouder; but now something had gone wrong. Rythian had stopped eating, barely slept, and paced night and day around his spacious enclosure as if something was haunting him. Simon and Lewis tried everything: changing food, new toys, more water, less water, but to no avail. Finally out of desperation the vet Nilesy was called, and the Scotsman arrived on the scene.
"Ah jus don't know what's eatin' him." Nilesy pressed a stethoscope to the furry black chest. The wolf didn't so much as growl at him. "Ah've never seen im' like this before." Standing, he dusted off his trousers. "There doesn't appear tae be anythin' wrong with him. The only thing tha' I can think of is that he's lonely."
"Lonely?" Simon echoed incredulously, scratching his orange beard.
"Come on, Simon." Lewis mused, "Animals get lonely too!"
"Maybe he wants a girlfriend." Simon clapped his hands together.
Nilesy packed his equipment away. "Well, Ah'll leave you to it. Good luck!"
Simon turned to Lewis, "Right then, operation Lonely Heart is a go!"
Rolling his eyes, Lewis gave Simon a high five and they set out to the office to make some calls.
The first attempt at curing Rythian's loneliness was not a success. A lovely gray female wolf was brought in, but Rythian barely paid her any heed. She tried to get him to play, but the black wolf just sighed and turned away from her. After leaving her in the pen for a few days, they took her out and sent her back to her own zoo with a note of apology.
"Maybe he doesn't go that direction?" Simon asked as they watched the morose figure pace around the pen.
"I beg your pardon?" Lewis raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"Well, you know. Maybe he wants a jolly sort of male companion." Simon gestured vaguely with a hand.
This time a rakish looking brown male wolf was placed in the enclosure. Other than a tilted ear, Rythian completely ignored the stranger, who seemed quite disappointed at the lack of attention and began to sulk around the pen as if spurned. Simon and Lewis shrugged their shoulders and removed the wolf, sending him back to his nature preserve with a note that suggested giving him a male friend to romp around with.
Completely at a loss, the two friends sat in their office firing suggestions back and forth at one another. Finally Lewis looked up from a website and motioned Simon over.
"Look at this! It says some animals enjoy making friends outside their own species! They do it for racehorses all the time!"
"I dunno, Lewis. Rythian's hardly a racehorse."
"Well maybe not, but what choice do we have? Come on, man. Let's give it a try."
The search was on. Lewis and Simon began looking around for suitable friends for their wolf, searching first within the walls of their own zoo. The first animal they tried was a Spotted Owl named Hannah. She flew around the pen happily, but Rythian didn't seem amused or even interested, so she went back to her own enclosure. The next suggestions were a pair of weasels named Sips and Sjin. When Rythian saw them, he got to his paws and followed them about the enclosure. It appeared promising until he began to growl, and so the pair were quickly removed from the area and sent back to their own tunnel and tube filled home. The worst idea by far was the fox named Duncan, who was nearly killed as Rythian lunged for him when he entered the enclosure.
Hybrid the panda was too big, and the tortoise Ravs was too unbalanced to walk around the uneven enclosure, so Simon and Lewis sat back at a loss. They looked sadly into the enclosure at the wolf, who was now looking skinny and depressed.
"I just don't know what to do anymore." Simon sighed, "The poor fella looks as if he's going to croak."
"Maybe it's his time to go?" Lewis rubbed his trimmed beard thoughtfully.
"He's not old! He's just entering his prime!" Simon was indignant.
As they talked, something fell into the pen through a gap in the fence with a soft cry of distress. They turned to see a fiery red cat struggle to its paws. She was a dainty thing, with slim limbs and piercing blue eyes. Her wild red fur was sleek and wavy, and her tail was a plume that stuck up behind her when she walked.
"Wot? How did she get in?" Simon was dumbfounded. "He'll eat her alive!"
Rythian turned to the newcomer and approached, his tail high in the air. Curiously he tilted his head and sniffed the small cat, who meowed at him loudly. Lewis and Simon held their breath, afraid to startle the wolf lest he harm the little animal. To their complete surprise, Rythian's tail moved back and forth in a very slight wag, and he chuffed a hello. The cat began to explore the enclosure, followed by Rythian who went over the terrain with her, seeming pleased.
"Oh my God." Simon heaved a sigh. "I can't believe he didn't eat her."
"Me either." Lewis laughed. "Well, we were looking for a friend for him. Now he has one! What shall we call her?"
"Zoey?"
"Zoey it is."
The small red cat made herself completely at home in Rythian's enclosure, and Rythian seemed to be completely fine with it. The black wolf would follow her around like a shadow, making sure she didn't hurt herself on anything. The change in the wolf was stunning; his coat grew sleek once more, and he began to eat and sleep on a normal schedule again. The visitors became quite enamored with the unlikely duo, and the enclosure was always surrounded by a crowd of fans. They loved to see Rythian and Zoey walking around the pen together, or sleeping in a big furry heap in a shaded corner.
Zoey seemed entirely unaware that by all laws of nature Rythian should have eaten her. The little cat twined around his legs, purring and tripping him up, and at night would sleep curled against his warm flank. She would shamelessly chase his tail, pouncing on it and letting it go again, which Rythian took with extreme good humor and patience.
There were a few issues of course. A family by the last name of Mushroom claimed that the cat was theirs, but after some investigation it was discovered that they were not at all friendly to animals. Another problem occurred when a large iguana by the name of Tee got into the enclosure and bit Zoey's tail, but it was soon resolved and the iguana remained in the pen with Zoey and Rythian. Over all though, the arrangement worked beautifully and the zoo rejoiced to have its main attraction healthy and happy once again.