Bumbura loved the water, and would happily spend his entire day in the river if he was allowed to. Not that there was anything out there that would stop him from his paddling, really. He was not concerned about breaking rules, since he was alone and he had been alone for as long as he could remember. He did not live in a pride and no one told him what to do. He was not even concerned about passing through a pride and breaking some rules he was not aware of. He was not really concerned with prides at all, and if he did ever find one then maybe that would be a fortuitous turn. Maybe he would find himself a new home. For now, though, all that really stopped him from spending all day, every day, in the water was the strange way his fur and skin reacted to it when he was submerged too long. It got all soggy and heavy, and he was fairly sure that was unhealthy in some way.
He tended to gauge his exposure to water and the cold air as best as he could, though, and at this stage in his life he was sure he had found a rather good balance. He gave himself enough time to dry out and warm up when he needed to, and so far he had never gotten ill or suffered any other side effects of his watery pastime. Swimming was just too much fun. He would risk any sort of repercussion for it, if her were honest. It was not like he had anything else going on.
It was strange, then, when Vumbi saw the lion paddling along down the river. At least for him it was. The Wild Dog had very little experience with lions to start with, but a swimming one that was smiling while he splashed his way down the just-deep-enough river he was traveling had to be out of the ordinary, even for them. The lion could not have looked happier, though, and that at least lifted Vumbi’s hope that this was a friendly lion. He certainly looked friendly, with a big dumb grin on his face like that. Wagging his tail, Vumbi decided to take the plunge directly, and literally. He took a few steps backwards and a breath to steel himself, then charged forward and leaped into the water with a might splash. Not as big as one created by a lion, maybe, but it was good enough for the much smaller wild dog. He wished he had been able to see it, though, as he paddled his way to the surface and let his head break through the water. He looked around, lost for a moment, then spotted the lion not too far off. He was still smiling, which was good.
“Hello there!” Bumbura said, moving to the side of the river so he could put his paws under him and stand instead of needing to tread water. He swished his tail behind him but the water slowed the motion considerably, and the tip of it only broke through the water half way, logged down with water, and it splashed back down against the ruffled surface almost as soon as it managed to escape. Vumbi’s tail was likewise acting like a heavy, swinging sponge, though it was strong enough to propel him a bit as he moved over to the side to join the lion on the bank. They were both still partially submerged in the water, though Vumbi had to travel up higher on the bank to meet the same level of water line as the much larger lion.
“Hi! My name is Vumbi! I’m sorry if I splashed you, I couldn’t resist. You looked like you were having so much fun, just swimming along down the river. What were you doing? You weren’t trying to catch a fish, were you?” Vumbi realized now that he might have ruined a very fun and pleasant fishing trip, and that was what the lion might have been so happy about. The promise of a fresh catch. Bumbura shook his mighty head before Vumbi even finished his question, though, letting out a deep throated laugh that rumbled over the water and seemed to make it ripple.
“No, no, I was just swimming. I like to follow the flow of the river as long as I can, until my legs get too tired or my fur absorbs too much water. I am more than happy to have company, as well! My name is Bumbura, and it is a pleasure to meet you. You are more than welcome to join me in my swim, if you are going this way, with the flow of the river.”
“Sure!” Vumbi chuckled, feeling any sense of fear or foreboding rushing from his body. He was relaxed immediately because the lion was friendly and posed no threat, which was good because Vumbi had no way of dealing with threats. He was an easy going and rather friendly wild dog himself, and would much rather talk it out than resort to anything violent. “Though I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with you. You sound like you do this a lot, and I’m not the strongest swimmer.”
“We’ll stay close to the bank, and you can swim to it if you feel tired, or climb on to my back. I will carry you, I have no problem with that. You look small enough.” The lion chuckled, teasing the smaller creature jovially. Vumbi laughed along, not minding at all. His new home was back in this direction, following the river, so he did not mind taking a swim instead of walking home.
The duo set off on their swim together, and the lion was good to his word. He let Vumbi rest when he was tired, and even let Vumbi ride on his back for the last leg of their journey back to Vumbi’s pack lands. When was the wild dog ever going to get another chance to do that? Once they climbed up on the bank near his home, Vumbi nodded his head to the strange, water oriented lion and smiled a thank you.
“It was a very nice time, meeting you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your swim! Thank you for the ride!”
“I hope to see you again some time, my small friend,” Bumbura said, nodding his head with an oddly sagely look before he turned and went back into the water. Soon enough, he was gone from sight.
Word Count in Word: 1,096
