The journey to Ricky's academy was livelier than the first quarter. Zahira told amazing stories of her life to Zoe about how she grew up as a pet of Nicole, was turned into a human by an experiment, and Arlina then adopted her. After returning to her hometown, the secret association (known as Animal Secret Spys {A.S.S}), fought Nicole's old professor who wanted to conquer the world with his anime experiments and fell in love with a mutated boy by the name Malice who was half horse.
Zoe listened to the entire story with full interest and questioned a few questions regarding her lack of hatred towards the kingdom. Apparently, the rift between Zahira and the queen was just because of Zahira's self-centered attitude. She had changed ways and accepted the fact Nicole (the creator and acting mother) gave her to Queen Arlina for the kingdom's fate. But she couldn't accept life as a princess with the way she lived as a spy, thus Zahira left such life and lived in the shadow despite her emotions.
Little did Zoe know, Zahiras' eyes were quickly looking around. She had noticed something off during their takeoff. Since Zahira wanted to avoid citizens' eyes, she chose the most secluded track. But she realized woods, and the sound of rustling leaves constantly reached her ears mostly surrounded such track. Her bunny ears twitched in anticipation and her fingertips tapped rapidly on her bag strap. 'Am I being paranoid or is there something in there?' She caught sight of something and sighed. After a moment of standing still while Zoe rechecked her map, Zahira pulled up her strength and activated one of her trained hidden skills. 'Complex Sound!'
Her mind was soon filled with various sounds of crickets, ants' footsteps, and even the snoring of a sleeping owl. What would amaze Zoe if she could hear, was Zahira could hear Zoe's own thoughts on the map. 'It should be this way… Or did we take the wrong turn?' Zahira separated all the noises she could confirm and pinpointed the heavy breathing of an unknown creature and his dark thoughts. 'Something about this duo is annoying me. They seem to be close to the Flame Kingdom. Ten assassins have been onto them for the past few hours and I'm sick of this. Why did My Lady order me to watch over them? That bunny-head seems rather strong…'
Zahiras' eyes slowly scanned the area where the voice was the strongest and pinpointed around the south side of their positions. She resumed to stare at the place and the thoughts slowly faded with uncertainty. 'Can that bunny-head see me? No way? I'm completely hidden! I hope she doesn't attack. It's not like I will…' Zahira decided to take on his thoughts as a positive sign and glanced over at the confused Zoe.
"Sorry, just thought I've heard something. Could be a pair of mating dogs!" She grinned playfully, obtaining a smile from the glasses girl.
As they walked further away from the stalker, Zahira gave it a cautious final glance before pointing her back at it. If it really didn't seem like a foe, it could be an ally. Zahira chose to let it be for now and report it if anything feels out of the ordinary. Her hurried slowly returned his gaze to the place the duo was just there before hurried away. His feet kept racing up the mountain terrain until it reached a cave and his slowed down at the entrance.
The cave filled with darkness and normally anyone couldn't see anything. The werewolf in particular could see clearly in the dark and kneeled down as his master approached. She slowly gazed at him with her red orbs and her lips curled into a small smile.
"Welcome back, Zambia." She greeted softly. "How is your task going so far? Is she doing well?"
"Yes, Your Highness. She has retrieved your third younger sister and is now on her way towards the hometown of your youngest sister. I've just finished with the last of her attackers."
"You are doing great. For dinner, I guess I'll go catch a few wild rabbits," she stated while slowly reentering the depths of her cave and retrieving a bag of arrows. She glanced at her underling before offering; "Are you thirsty? I have fresh water from the town."
"Your Highness. I am in no need of water for the time being. You should prioritise your need for concealment. If you lack minerals, your body flames will erupt and cause you more problems later." He spoke while standing up with his arms crossed behind his back.
"Oh, Zamba. You idiot…" She sighed while tossing something at him that he caught in reflex. "You're sweating like mad in this heat and you're panting of exhaustion. The one that needs water now is you. Now go rest…" she huffed while pushing his shoulder for him to stagger forwards. "Leave dinner to me."
The werewolf by the name Zamba smiled as his master exited the caves' darkness and her appearance became clear in the sunlight. Her beautiful mesmerising amber hair was tied into two buns and her body was wrapped in rags. Her attire was to mainly hide a cuff metallic gadget over her left wrist. Zamba watched her readjust the sling bag on her shoulder and his eyes returned to the gadget. 'How I wish she wasn't like me, cursed and forgotten.'
Apparently, the girl had powers of her own and she smiled as Zamba stiffened when she glanced over at him. "Zamba, I don't mind being cursed as long as I'm with you."
This statement made a blush grow over his cheeks furiously and he jumped into bed and pulled over the blankets while yelling a quick remark. She chuckled under her breath and looked at her surroundings. Sure she was royalty, but she loved the wilderness and had nothing against him or her family.
"Well, I'm off, Zamba!" She called out while waving her hand above her head. "If you don't see or hear from me before night down, it means' I'm dead!"
"Don't make those kinds of jokes, Aira!" The werewolf argued while sitting up in his bed and tossing a wooden basket at her.
As she walked away, Zamba smiled at her shrinking figure. 'If they could just see her, they would know even the cursed are kind and forgiving…' And with that thought in his head, he closed his eyelids and curled up into a ball of fur.