Since Mei couldn't tell who the paws in front of her belonged to, she was unsure whether she should be feeling relieved or terrified at the moment. After a short moment that felt like an eternity, Mei managed to reluctantly gaze upwards at the creature before her, shivering in anticipation as she did so. With that her last shred of hope was swiftly destroyed, the wolf staring back at her wasn't Gabu. Even though its expression looked more like one of shock than one of ferocity that did little to sooth Mei's uneasiness.

"Hey... you're that goat..."

The wolfs surprisingly mellow voice disappeared as some rumbling voices could be heard calling out to someone in the distance. Seeing the wolf turn in the direction of the noise made a sudden thought pop up in her head. If she'd run fast enough there was a slim chance that she'd managed to escape while the wolves were distracted. Unfortunately her legs were shaking and seemingly immobilized, leaving her to listen quietly to the wolves conversation.

"Hey, do you see him anywhere?"

"What do you guys think you're doing? He went that way!"

Mei only stood and watched in confusion as the wolf pointed in what looked like a random direction. The wolf just sat quietly staring at her with a small smile that oddly didn't look like it had any ill intent behind it. It wasn't until the sound of the wolves was completely gone that the wolf spoke once again.

"I think they're gone now... we'd better get moving."

"Why... are you helping me?"

"You are Mei aren't you? There isn't really any goats in the area so I just assumed it was you. I was surprised to see Gabu alone when we found him..."

"How did you...? Oh, you're... Lala..."

"He told you about me? I'm flattered! Where is he by the way?"

"I actually don't know... we got separated..."

"Well we'd better find him then! Where were you guys headed?"

"We were going towards... the mountains."

Mei almost immediately regretted having hesitated before answering Lala. Having heard the doubt that remained in Mei's voice, the wolf had gotten a rather sad look on her face. Fortunately the smile quickly returned to Lala's face as she noticed the guilty look in Mei's eyes, somewhat easing her conscious.

"Well, let's get going then!"

Mei only gave her a quick nod before they both began walking. Since they didn't have to worry about any other wolves Mei actually got the chance to relax a little which she was thoroughly thankful for. As the air stayed silent, Mei couldn't help but cast a cautious and uncertain gaze towards the wolf which she then quickly scolded herself for. Even if she was a wolf Lala was still Gabu's friend and hadn't done anything to deserve any mistrust. Wanting to make up for this, Mei decided to break the silence between them.

"So... how long have you known Gabu?"

"Oh, we were just pups when he and his family joined the pack... I took a while for us to get to know each other though..."

"Really? How come?"

"I don't really know... we didn't see each other very often, I guess... He usually kept to himself but even when I got to know him I still didn't see much of him..."

"Why is that? I thought you guys were friends!"

"We are friends... or at least I think of him as a friend..."

"Sorry..."

"No, it's okay... I just never really got that close to him... I kind of envy you actually, you seem to have gotten much closer to him than I ever have in a much shorter time."

"Yeah... you're right... we haven't been together for a long time at all..."

"Hey, I didn't mean it in a bad way! You must be something very special for him to open himself up so quickly, especially with you being a goat and all! No offence..."

"None taken! So... if you don't mind mind me asking. Why didn't you guys get closer to each other?"

"Like I said, he was pretty secluded but the biggest reason he kept his distance was probably because of my brother..."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, Giro didn't like it when I spent time with Gabu, mostly because of his lower rank in the pack. He was probably just trying to look out for me but he can be very intimidating when wants to..."

"Giro... isn't he the leader of your pack?"

"Oh... Gabu told you about him? Yeah, he's the leader... but not a very popular one at the moment..."

"I... kind of got that impression..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, me and Gabu overheard a conversation between the two of you... We were hiding in some pool of mud and nearly got caught by your pack..."

"Hey, it wasn't exactly like you were trying to spy on us, was it? Besides, I wish more people listened to what I had to say anyway..."

"Why don't you become the leader then?"

"It's not that simple..."

"If someone is doing poorly at something and doesn't want to improve they should quit. Shouldn't they?"

"I don't think he isn't trying... He'd be a great leader if his pride didn't get in the way..."

"So again, why hasn't he been replaced?"

"In order to become the leader you have to either defeat the current leader by yourself or have the current leader give you the title. Since Giro still is the strongest of the pack and much too stubborn to give up his leadership I'm afraid that this isn't going to end well."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's unfortunate but inevitable..."

Since Mei didn't know what to say to that, she kept quiet which the wolf didn't seem to mind. With nothing else to occupy herself with, her thoughts wandered to Gabu. She realised that they didn't have any way of knowing if Gabu was okay or not. If only she hadn't tripped, none of this would ever had happened. Her feeling of guilt was suddenly put on hold as they finally exited the confining field of sunflowers. Trying to keep her hopes up she gazed towards the summit that Gabu hopefully had reached. The way the mountain was lit up by the sun hovering close above it somehow eased her worries for some unintelligible reason.