Nyata'mtu stared at her ward with distressed amusement. “You're going to injure yourself,” she warned, though her shoulders were slumped in defeat and her expression was resigned. Once Aynashi convinced herself she would do something, there was little stopping her, and unfortunately for her carers, Aynashi had decided to be a leopard today.
“I'll be fine, Mtu!” Aynashi laughed from her perch on the branch, her slender form appearing at home amongst the similarly slender branches.
“Those branches look barely enough to hold me,” the bright yellow bird, L'amiie, said skeptically as she fluttered frantically by the side of the cheetah. “Please, please just come down, darling!”
“I just want to see what you see, Ami!” Aynashi begged, her childish nature rearing it's head, as her eyes widened and grew glossy – a skill she had been using since infanthood. “Please!”
“Don't look directly at her, Ami, or you might just melt completely,” Nyata said sarcastically, seeing the chaperone wavering in her command.
L'amiie's own eyes were wide as she stared at her ward. “Oh...oh, all right! Stay up in the tree! But if you fall and break your neck, it'll be your own fault!” She groaned, but continued to hover nervously by the young cheetahesses side as she weaved her way carefully up the branches.
Reaching a higher point in the sturdy tree, Aynashi gasped. “Oh, Mtu! You should see this!”
Nyata snorted, rather ungracefully. “No. No, thank you! Cheetahs are not meant to climb, yes, but hyenas? We are definitely not made for such things. I will stay with my paws firmly on the ground.”
Aynashi sighed heavily, as if it were a great disappointment. “Suit yourself, Mtu, but it really is beautiful up here.” She stared out at the dry savannah – to most a desolate waste lands, but to her? Well, it symbolised freedom. A Journey. Her future.
A figure in the distance caught her eye quickly enough and she squinted, trying to make out it's shape. They hadn't stumbled upon anyone in a couple of days, which wasn't really surprising with how poor the prey numbers were out here, but still, it excited her that maybe they would finally meet someone interesting! Perhaps they even knew her father?
“Mtu! There's someone coming!” She called down to her guard, and watched as the hyena tensed.
“What species, L'amiie?” Nyata demanded, and saw the yellow bird take flight, soaring high to check out the new arrival.
Circling back after catching an eyeful, L'amiie almost seemed...amused. “Why Nyata,” she mused, “I do believe he's one of you.”
Nyata blinked. One of her?...Oh, a hyena. That was odd. Nyata hadn't been around one of her own species for a long time – she'd almost forgotten there were others around.
“Dangerous?” She said, quickly refocusing on the important facts.
“Doesn't look it,” the bird announced, “in fact, he looks almost dead on his feet.”
“Really?” Aynashi asked, sounding distressed, as she slowly weaved her way back down towards the ground. “But if he dies, then he might not tell me where my father is!”
Nyata sighed. “We don't even know if he knows your father,” she pointed out, “or whether or not he's just putting on a show to lull us into a false sense of security!”
Aynashi cast her guard a lightly frustrated look. “Really? He saw us at such a great distance, and decided he'd look half dead, just to...what, trick us into giving him...dirt? We don't exactly have anything to offer.”
“Don't sass me,” Nyata snapped. “Just...stay behind me and wait until I say it's okay.”
The young cheetah looked like she wanted to argue, but one sharp look from both her chaperone and her guard had her sighing and obeying. “I'm not a cub anymore,” she pointed out, but was ignored as the male drew close enough to see.
“Hello,” Nyata called out, her voice low and booming.
The male visible started and almost fell in his swiftness to fall back a pace or two, his eyes wide as if he had not seen them before she spoke. “Hello,” he called back, his own voice meak and whispery, almost too faint to hear. He said nothing more and simply continued to stare at them – or more specifically, Nyata – as he waited for them to do...well, anything.
“Who are you?” L'amiie asked, seeing as she would be more polite than Nyata who was more...blunt.
“Ning'tu,” the male said, promptly, his gaze sliding to the bird who asked the question. Again, he volunteered no more information.
Exchanging a glance with Nyata, L'amiie spoke up again, completing the introductions, “I'm L'amiie, this is Nyata'mtu, and Aynashi, our ward.” She motioned to the cheetah who was now blatantly staring at the male hyena, only partially hidden behind Nyata anymore.
“Hello,” the cheetahess said swiftly, and ducked back behind her guard when Nyata shot her a warning look.
“Hello,” Ning'tu repeated.
“What are you doing out here?” Nyata asked sharply.
“Walking,” he responded, casting her a somewhat bemused look. “I thought that was obvious...”
“I think what she means is, where are you walking to?” The bird explained.
“Oh, that I don't know,” Ning'tu admitted. “See, I was travelling with this lion, but he got angry at me and told me to start walking and keep on walking – so I did, and that's what I'm doing now.” He glanced down at his stationary feet and gave a rueful crooked grin. “Well, not right now, but you get the idea.”
“Do you always do what lions tell you?” Aynashi couldn't resist asking, having never been around lions much in her life.
“No, not always,” Ning'tu disagreed. “Sometimes I listen to others, like leopards, or hyenas, or cheetahs. Not some much the smaller animals, they usually don't bother with me.”
“Riiight,” Nyata drawled, staring at what she now assumed was a mentally deranged male.
“But why?” Aynashi prompted.
“Why what?” Ning'tu looked confused.
“Why did you obey?” She stared at him with a similarly confused look.
Ning'tu blinked. “Well, isn't that what you do when someone gives you an order? Listen and obey?”
“No,” Aynashi disagreed.
“And she would know,” L'amiie joked, fondly staring at her ward.
“But if I don't obey, they are angry,” Ning pointed out with a frown. “If they get angry, I get hurt and then no one wins. It is easier to go with the river flow, as they say.”
“And the river flow flows you down the stream of orders?” L'amiie asked, poetically.
“...What?” Ning looked baffled. “No, uh. I just...y'know, listen to orders.”
“So if I ordered you to go jump off a cliff, what would you do?” Nyata demanded.
“Mtu!” Aynashi gasped. “What a horrible thing to suggest!”
But Ning'tu answered anyway, glancing at Nyata and making sure not to meet her eyes. “I'd tell you that's impossible, because we're in the savannah. There's not any cliffs for miles. I could jump off a pile of rocks...but that probably isn't really the same.”
“You'd kill yourself because someone told you to?” Aynashi asked, horrified.
“Well, no, not intentionally,” Ning said, shifting and looking uncomfortable at the scrutiny. “I'd try to not hurt myself in doing what they said.”
“Do people order you to do that often? Things that will hurt?” L'amiie asked, sounding similarly distressed.
“Sometimes,” Ning mumbled, shifting on his paws and anxiously glancing around. “Can I go?”
“No!” Aynashi announced boldly, stepping out from behind Nyata. She would not let his kind male he ridiculed and taunted by cruel, heartless people. “I order you to join our group.”
“What?” Nyata snapped.
“Good idea!” L'amiie said approvingly, staring at her ward fondly. “We need a male around.”
“No we don't! We're doing just fine!” Nyata snapped.
Ning'tu looked torn, obviously seeing two different orders being shown here – but there was only one that was specifically said.
“Okay,” he agreed, gaining all three sets of eyes back to him. “I'll join.”
“Great!” Aynashi enthused. “We'll be great friends, I know it!”
“You'll be safe with us, dearheart!” L'amiie soothed, looking pleased with their decision.
“This will not end well, mark my words,” Nyata groaned, but did not forbid him from joining, merely continued to scowl at all of them. “Not well at all!”
“Oh don't be so dark, Mtu,” Aynashi soothed, bumping her guards chin with her head lightly. “Cheer up! Our trio just became a four-o.”
“Quad,” L'amiie corrected. “It goes duo, trio and then quad.”
“Shouldn't it be Quado?” Aynashi suggested.
“...No,” L'amiie said simply.
Ning'tu stared at the females with a baffled look on his face, suddenly wondering what he had just agreed himself into. Nyata must have caught the baffled look because she cast him a slightly pitying scowl.
“Welcome to the group,” she said slightly sarcastically, but she feared it might have gone over his head, because he simply smiled at her.
“Thank you,” he said, looking suddenly more pleased about his entry to the mixed group. Nyata wanted to groan. This was so going to end badly, she thought, even as she gave a tiny, itsy-bitsy, half smile back at the male.
The two hyenas missed the amused, and slightly cheeky grins that the bird and the cheetahess shared.
This was so going to be perfect, Aynashi squealed inwardly, grinning at her chaperone.
