sliceitwithwind | Zoooooooooo (Kiddie AU)

"It's kinda slimy." Dilan admitted, "But you can try some of mine and we'll get you a burger."

Sannish used his sheer size to get the kids up to the front, leaning on the railing and watching the lions calmly. Braig and Dilan flanked Aya, but were also all about the lion watching.

"And pickles?" She asked cheerfully. Pickles were better than french fries! At least this month.

Oh, the advantages of large katzu! She trotted along behind him like a duckling, then crowded up to the retaining wall. The nice, thick, opaque wall. Damn. The disadvantages of not being a grown katzu!

Miffed, Aya sighed, kicked the wall, and started climbing up the railing.

"And pickles." Braig promised. Dilan stepped up a little bit and stretched, but did not actually climb the wall. Braig kept a hand on Aya's back, optimistically intending to keep her from falling.

Sannish himself leaned on the wall and looked in on the big cats.

Well, Aya was really bad at getting left out of things! Especially when it was due to being short or the like! "Oh, there's babies!" That explained the crowd right?

And it explained the guy with the camera who immediately snapped to the railing, shouting 'They're out of the cave?!', never mind the little girl clinging precariously to said railing.

And Aya went over the railing, her hands missing any kind of hold as she went down. All the way down to land with a 'bump' on a grass hummock. At least she wasn't a screaming? she just kind of blinked in surprise for a moment before a stating a little shrilly "Lions!".

Dilan dove over the edge on Aya's heels, landing with a thump and getting between Aya and the lions. He's as pale as he can get, to be honest. Braig slugged the cameraman before following Dilan and shoving him back (onto Aya).

The lioness stood up and coughed the cough of an angry lion, starting to stalk towards the children.

One more puff of dust, a larger one this time, and Sannish landed in a crouch fit for any number of martial arts films, coat slapping the ground and braids following with another set of paff noises. He met the lioness with an answering ROAR that made no bones of the fact that when he was young, Katzu proved their adulthood by killing Behemoths with their bare hands. Even at well over a hundred years, he's more than a match for a lion.

Even an angry mother lion.

Okay, when Dilan landed Aya got a little worried and started in on the 'young kid realizes she's maybe in danger' screaming. When Braig landed she had a Dilan on top of her that pretty much made the screaming end in a 'guh' noise. "Get off...get off...Dilan, we gotta move and..."

...oh...

"Did you think he's mad at us?" Because suddenly it was really important that Sannish not be mad at them!

"I dunno." Dilan muttered back, and Braig made a noise that more or less came out as "Erk?"

Sannish, meanwhile, threw the lion. Into the pool, so that she wouldn't be hurt, but getting her far away from his kittens.

Up above there's screaming, and running, and people calling the authorities.

The other lions are, more or less, staring.

Just in case Sannish was mad at them Aya wrapped an arm around each of the boys. Better to cling and hope that they could all get away?

Or something.

Maybe.

"Those are really scared lions. Should we be screaming too?"

"No. Don't scream." Braig said, "We don't want to distract him." Or. Get his attention while he's still bristling.

Behind them a zoo keeper lowered a ladder into the enclosure and called softly, "Come here, kids...lets get you out."

Sannish, meanwhile, paced back and forth; defining "his" portion of the enclosure from any and all potential attacks.

"Okay, not going to scream." Not hard since someone up above was getting hysterical on their behalf. Babies with the lions and all.

"Dilan, you're still sitting on me."

"That's 'cause Braig is sitting on me." Dilan huffed, pushing Braig off. Braig looked back at the keeper, who was gesturing wildly.

"Aya, go to the zoo keeper. We'll go out in order of age."

"Well, Braig needs to move too." Aya snapped, forgetting to keep her voice down. Then she winced. "Sorry. Okay, ladder..."

Up the ladder she went, and was handily snatched at the top and dragged into a weepy bear hug. ".....I'm gonna scream."

Dilan skittered up after her and batted at the hands, "Hey! That's my Ayay! No touching!"

Braig followed as fast as he could, calling back, "Uncle Sannish! We're okay!"

Well, since Dilan was there and no more than an armful himself he was getting drawn into the hug too? "Oh poor babies! Poor poor babies! It's alright, you're safe now! Don't worry. Are you hurt??"

Aya was...failing to wiggle away from the hug so she gave it up as a lost cause and waiting for a good opportunity to scream "WHO PUSHED ME?!" Seemed like a good question to her!

"ACK!" was Dilan's response, and he pushed the arms off, "Hey! Let go! I don't know you!"

Braig looked for the guy with the camera, finding him trying to edge away, "It was that guy! That guy there!"

Sannish, meanwhile, climbed the ladder with grace and aplomb, as though he did this every day. Moving towards the woman hugging his charges he said, "Please return my kits to me."

"KICK HIM!" Aya ordered, rapidly gearing up toward angry as she waited for Braig's information. Or better yet, have zoo officials grab him, but still, kicking was a WONDERFUL thing!

The woman holding Dilan and Aya eyed Sannish up and down, obviously not happy with the idea of returning children to a man who had let them fall in a lion pit but..."Keep them away from the lions and such." She slowly released the kids, then eyed the whole group. "Is anyone hurt?"

Braig actually tackled the guy, and then sat on him until the zoo officials got to him. Then he hustled back over to his 'family'.

Sannish met the woman's eyes with his own chartreuse ones and then plucked both Aya and Dilan up to hold them on his hips. "I see a skinned knee." the old man states, "Aya, how are you? Dilan?"

"The knee and some bruises. Braig is bony!"

"I'm okay! I landed on my butt." Which translated to 'a little bruised but nothing bleeding' in kid speech! "And squashed. The boys are heavy." They totally were!

"Were we really going to get eaten?"

"Of course not." Sannish said instantly, "I would not let you be eaten."

Braig reached up to take Aya from Sannish (she was lighter than Dilan) and hugged her tightly. "I'm fine." he added.

Aya wrapped her arms around Braig's shoulders and clung. She knew the boys better than she did Sannish, which meant it was okay to be a little afraid! "I like not being eaten. It's a good thing. And you all jumped in to help me. Thanks!"

"Of course we did." Braig said quietly, burying his face in her hair, "You're our Ayay. Nobody will ever hurt you if we're around. Nobody and nothing."

"Yeah." Dilan agreed, leaning against his great-grand uncle's neck. Sannish petted Aya's hair, then turned to the zoo official who approached them.

"I am so sorry." the man started, "Please, come with me and we'll see what we can do to make this up to you."

"And no lions get to eat us." She nodded against Braig's neck, still happily clinging. "Ever. Or bears. Or Llamas."

The zoo official was joined by another who already had complimentary memberships and certificates for the souvenir store. It wasn't a solution, but it was a start toward not getting sued?

"No lions or llamas, or anything else at all." Braig promised, sincerely and deeply.

Sannish set Dilan down so that he could join Braig and Aya, while Sannish...proceeded to bilk the officials for every possible concession.

"Cross your heart?" Aya asked, feeling every one of her very few years all of a sudden. Older people made promises that made the okay, so she needed to hear that!

The kids really wanted to be life time members right? And on the events lists? And always able to eat at the cafe for free? And attend summer camp? And Sannish wanted to be on the planning board right and DEAR GOD THEY DID NOT WANT A MEDIA CIRCUS OKAY?

"And hope to die." Braig said, and Dilan echoed while drawing a cross on his chest. "Together forever."

Sannish smiled, and nodded, and managed to angle for potential internships if the kids wanted them when they were older. Then, satisfied (and leaving baffled zoo staff behind him) he collected his young charges and headed for the restaurant.

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