"Are you sure this is such a wonderful idea, Ela?" The monochromed maned wolf wondered aloud. He lagged a short ways behind the purple lioness, and his ears twitched this way and that, eyes flitting nervously about as if at any moment, a guard would burst through the trees and stop them where they were.
In front, the young lioness smiled and shook her head. "To be completely honest, Pan, I am not sure." She was rewarded by a sharp intake of breath from behind, and the subsequent tsssk of a half sigh, half tut as the maned wolf exhaled. "Who am I to determine whether an idea is good or bad, after all, Pan? It was born one way or another, and no amount of wishing will change it, for better or for worse."
A quick glance backwards told her that Pan was gearing up for a response, and before he could put his thoughts into words, she continued, "we will find out one way or another, and in the meantime, shouldn't we simply continue? We've come this far already."
The wolf sighed again. "And I suppose you will want to continue until we make it all the way to the theater, milady?" It may as well have been a rhetorical question; they both knew that that was exactly where Raziela was headed, and no amount of persuading would alter her course. "But what for, Ela? There aren't any plays on right now."
"It doesn't matter, Pan, I just want to be there." She stopped, and turned to face the wolf. "I know you don't understand why, Pan. It's alright, I don't expect you to, but it's just... It's just a feeling I get from being there." And it was the best feeling in the world. She wished she had the eloquence to explain it to the wolf, who had become so more than just her slave. He was her friend, her guardian, and if she had been a little more mischievous, he would have been her partner in crime, there was no question about that. It pained her sometimes that he didn't understand as well as she the one thing in the world that gave her the most joy, but perhaps that was the way it was meant to be.
"Come on, then, Pan, let's go."
