The sky was slowing changing from blue to amber. The wolf and goat's adventure beyond Nomi Nomi was at an end. The pair was back at their original meeting place, a fair distance from either of their homes.
"Let me walk you home," Gabu offered. "It'll start getting dark soon."
"Yes, please. I wouldn't want a wolf to get me!" Gabu looked confused. Mei giggled and said, "I'm kidding, silly! Of course you can walk me home."
"Right! I'm walking with you because I don't want any goats to get me! Having you to talk with along the way is just... a bonus!"
This lighthearted banter continued until the pair reached the center of a nearby meadow. They stopped and faced each other. "I guess this is it for today, Mei. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice!"
Mei stalled for time, saying the things she knew Gabu already knew: "No worries! I had lots of fun. It's not too far for me to go now. I'll be okay." She didn't want to part ways any more than he did.
"I know you will." He smiled. "See you later, Mei!"
"Yes! See you, Gabu!" Mei said. The two friends began their separate journeys home.
Gabu hummed the Wind Song quietly to himself as he left the meadow and entered the forest he ran through earlier that day. No longer was he in a rush, so he walked, again lost in thought. Luckily, these were happy thoughts. The pleasant afternoon with Mei lifted his spirits once again.
The sharp snappings of twigs perked his ears. He was not afraid, for there were really no animals for him to be afraid of, but this was too much noise for an otherwise cautious animal to make. Something was going on.
He stopped and listened intently, turning to the sounds. A fair distance away still, it was all plain to see from where he stood. Three white goats. He instinctively began to salivate.
Two adult males were the cause of the noise. They shuffled about near the third goat, an adult female. It was obvious this goat was hurt, or at least in distress. A rotting tree had toppled over. Had it not had fallen across two boulders near its base that propped it up somewhat, it surely would have crushed the goat. Its trunk angled slowly downward from the boulders touching the ground a fair distance away. Inbetween that point and those boulders, there she was - a plump, tasty goat, pinned to the ground under a log, unable to move.
The drool began to hang from the wolf's lips and his tongue lashed out to sweep it all up. Such a feast was unheard of. He could kill the female whenever he chose. The males might pose a problem, but he could surely injure one even if the other got away. Still, that would be two goats caught by one wolf. His pack would honor him for such a legendary feat. Only one wolf he knew of - which includes stories about wolves he never met - had ever managed to kill two goats at one time. That wolf has Ghiro, the Boss of the Baku Baku wolf pack.
The two males examined the hollowed log from one end to the other. The highest point was just beyond the boulders, closest to its original base. From that side, the males were attempting to lift the log with their horns. It raised only a little bit. Gabu could see the female scrambling on her side of the boulders, but to no avail. She was well and truly stuck.
The males let the trunk rest again and went back to comfort the female. One of them caught a glimpse of the wolf watching them from higher ground and suddenly froze. Words were spoken, but Gabu could not make them out. The other male joined the first. The female was silent. All four animals were now aware of each other.
The staring contest seemed to last minutes, yet it was only seconds. The males took defensive stances on either side of the female as Gabu slowly advanced down the slope. No words were exchanged yet. He stopped at a point where they could at least hear each other. It was far enough.
Gabu broke the silence. "Hey."
"What do you want?" Nogu, the stockier-looking male demanded to know. His head angled just a bit, horns at the ready.
"I don't want anything. She's stuck." Gabu nodded towards the female, who did not like being the focus of attention.
"What of it? Stay back!"
"You guys need more help. Can you get your friends to lift the log?" Gabu knew where he might have to go with this, but the goats certainly did not.
"Not leaving her alone with you! Not a chance." Nogu's hoof slowly scratched a groove into the soil below it.
"If I leave will you go get more help?" Gabu's tail hung lazily behind him. He tried to look neither aggressive nor defensive. Simply there.
The males faced each other and whispered back and forth. Nogu summarized for the wolf: "It's a trick. Goats aren't stupid. We can defend ourselves, you know."
Gabu sighed. "I know you can. Look, you almost had it. Maybe I can help."
All three goats were silent. Too many thoughts to process at one time. Gabu continued, "I mean, you guys were doing good from over there, but you need someone here to help lift too. I don't have horns but if I could get under the log, I could use my back..."
Nogu interrupted, "Wait. You want to lift from this side? While we are over there where we can't see you? You must think we are stupid."
Gabu was getting frustrated. He could always leave the goats to themselves. Whether or not they ever decide to get more help would be their problem. He was starting to resent having made it his as well.
He spoke calmly, "If I wanted to get her, I would have done it already." The female instinctively struggled upon hearing those words. "I want to help her out. Let me lift from this side."
The males once again had a private conference of whispers. Nogu leaned down and spoke quietly with the female. While they conversed, the other male kept his eye on Gabu.
Nogu rose and said, "Okay. But if you try anything, we will kill you. How do you want to do this?"
Gabu again wondered why he bothered to get involved. "Well, I can't get under the log right away, but I can dig a little bit to make a spot and wiggle underneath it. Then we can all lift together and she'll be free!"
"Fine," the stocky goat sighed. "Just so you know, this is my mate Naga, and my brother here." Nogu gestured with his horns to the other male, who nodded his own briefly towards Gabu.
Gabu walked a few paces closer to the trio. The males once again braced themselves defensively, so Gabu stopped his advance. "I am going to have to get beside her if you want me to dig under the log."
The males stood back and Gabu approached. The female was never this close to a wolf before, and there was nothing she could do to get away. She began to cry. Nogu watched cautiously, but did not intervene.
"Don't cry. Don't cry." Gabu tried to reassure Naga. That was the worst thing he could have done.
She began to wail. "He's talking to meeee! Get me out!" Her hooves scratched away at the forest floor. Nogu approached her and touched her nose with his own. He too had never been this close to a wolf. He found the smell sickening.
"Okay, wolf. Dig." Nogu looked at Gabu, who nodded back to him.
Gabu scratched away at the soil beside Naga, close but not so close to ever touch her, and an obvious little divot was emerging from this side of the log. All the goats, including Naga, felt a bit less stress knowing every ounce of dislodged dirt brought them closer to their goal.
Gabu jumped over the log, and both males tucked their heads low to watch. From that side, another divot was dug beneath the log. It was not even deep enough for Gabu to crawl into. But the soil between these divots eventually gave way, and a tiny little trench was made.
Gabu peeked below the log at the goats on the other side. "Okay, you lift it like before, and I'll squeeze under here and lift it more with my back. That's all there is to it!"
Nogu's brother nodded at Gabu and his head raised out of view.
"Don't screw this up. Good luck." Nogu's head raised as well. Gabu watched hooves walking away, back to the base of the log beyond the boulders. He looked to his side. The rear of a plump goat was right there. He gently sniffed the air in secret. How he wished he could just be a wolf again and sink his teeth into her.
"Okay, get ready. We're gonna lift!" Nogu called out from his side of the boulders.
Gabu heard them grunt as he watched the log rise a small amount again. He scrambled to get underneath the log, and had to quickly dig a few more scrapes in the soil to do it. He crouched, legs buckled, in the little trench he had made. "Okay, here goes!" he called back, straining as he helped the log rise slightly higher.
Naga frantically scrambled her legs and inched forwards. In a few moments, she was free! She exclaimed, "I'm out! I'm out!" as she made happy little leaps beyond the boulders to the males.
Gabu looked up as he strained and felt immense satisfaction. Now it was his turn. He slowly eased tension on the log, still held up somewhat by the males, so he too could wiggle out of his trench.
Upon seeing his mate, Nogu looked at his brother with all seriousness. "Now."
Both males suddenly let the log drop. The hollow log did not fall far, but hit Gabu with a force he was certainly not ready for. His legs were sprawled out, front and back. Now he was the one stuck under the log. "Oof!" was all he was able to vocalize at that moment. The wind was literally knocked out of him.
The three goats came into view again, males in front, female farther behind. Gabu looked up at Nogu and realized it was he who was tricked. "Hey! What about me?" He was so taken aback there was really nothing else to say.
The awkward silence lasted but a moment. It was nearly dark. There was no longer any reason to be there. The goats took one last look at their unlikely ally. Nogu turned to his companions and said only one word: "Go!" All three bounded up the slight rise in the forest, out to the meadow beyond, and back to Sawa Sawa.
Gabu groaned to himself, "Mei..."