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It was one of his favorite places. It was never quiet and always busy, because the river that flowed by at an easy, peaceful pace was usually teaming with fish and other various forms of african wildlife. Today, however, was a little bit different. The rain from all of the nights before had collected in a lake upstream and now the water was rushing at a speed that Kiganja had never seen before. The leopard sat safely on a large grey boulder beside the stream, watching pateintly as whitecap after whitecap pounded against the base of the nearby cliff.

He had hoped to bring his family to this spot sometime soon but, as the intensity and raw power of the water only seemed to increase the longer he watched, Kiganja was begining to rethink his decision. They could easily take a different path- around the cliffs instead of through them. It would be longer and his children would likely be very tired at the end of everyday, but it would be better than having one of them drowned.

The wild nature of the river gave Persaon a bit of a thrill as he watched it. Stalking along the bank, parallel to the raging waters that roared beside him, his eyes remained locked upon the untamed rush. It was empowering to see, to hear the roar, feel the splashes of water as it surged by. It was a force of nature that none would want to reckon with. He could appreciate it, respect it, and he couldnt say that of many things.

As he glanced up and away from the waters that held his attenion, he noticed the figure of the other leopard. That was quite the surprise, to say the least, out here by the raging river. Regardless, he felt no real need to be rude - besides, the male could have something of a prize for him to collect. "Hello," he called, slowing his pace for caution.

Kiganja's own fierce desire for adventure and excitment had him unconsciously searching for some way across the channel. He knew, of course, that it would be more than unwise for him to make any kind of attempt to venture across. It would be idiotic. There was no telling what might happen and, if worse did indeed come to worse, it was very likely that he could be killed. Still, despite this logic, his brilliant blue eyes wandered along the shore and scaled the tops of the cliffs. He wanted to try. He wanted to dare. But, the great obligation he felt to his family and the love he had for Hen kept him rooted to the spot. They needed him, just as he need them.

If the approaching leopard made any sound before his greeting, Kiganja did not hear them. The sound of the water surrounded his head and filled his ears so completely that, when the other male's 'hello' finally pushed through the noise, Kiganja thought that he might be dreaming. It was a couple of moments before he realized that the voice had actually been real.


He turned around slowly, so that he would not fall off the boulder and be plunged into the deadly depths of the river. He returned the stranger's kindly expression and yelled louder than was necessary;

"Hello there!"

Persaon knew full and well the dangers of attempting to cross such a fury of nature. Misery and pain awaited those bold enough to dare, perhaps even death, and he certainly didn't want his life ending any time soon. As it were, however, he did have a need of crossing and thus his path beside the river remained the same. He was hoping to find a natural bridge of some sort, or perhaps a section of the river that had not been so affected by the recent rains.

The male's slowness to respond to his greeting, and then his own rather over-zealous one, caused Persaon to quirk an eyebrow. Well, he hadn't exactly been expecting that, though he tried not to make any immediate assumptions of him. That would be rude.

"Do you know how far down the river I might have to go before I found a way to cross?" he asked casually, moving a touch closer and sitting down slowly now that he realized he wasn't likely to be agressive.

The amount of time he'd spent beside the river had caused some unfortunate and (hopefully) temporary hearing loss . As the other leopard spoke, Kiganja was alarmed when he actually had to guess and lip-read at a lot of it. This was something that had never happened to him before, as he had always been a particularly healthy and strong leopard. He cleared his throat once and shook his head vigorously, in a slightly crazy attempt to relieve his ears of the sound of rushing water. It worked, for the most part, and Kiganja sighed when the other male's voice was suddenly a lot clearer.

He took a number of steps closer, because he didn't want to risk misinterpreting anything that was said, and then returned to smiling at him. It had been a couple of nights since he'd seen his family, and it was good to have company. Even if it was unfamiliar company.

"When the water is calmer, it's actually quite easy to cross," he used his tail to point at a collection of little humps that made a haphazard bridge across the river, "see there? Those are boulders that I've used to hop across on a number of occasions. Usually, they stick out a lot farther than that."

As Persaon watched the other male's rather odd behavior, he let out a mental groan. If this male turned out to be anywhere near as crazy as that young lioness he had met the other day, he really wasn't going to look forward to talk to him. For a moment, he highly considered getting up and leaving - that would keep him from having to figure out a crazy ramble. He only had patience enough for one of those sorts in a lifetime, he was sure. However, he remained instead, hoping against hope that nothing was wrong with this fellow's mind.

"I see," he said calmly, staring at the rocks he could just make out above the seething waters. "You wouldn't happen to know just how long it might take the river to return to normal?" Sadly, he wasn't familiar with the area, and he didn't know how long it'd been raining or how large the river typically was.

Kiganja hadn't the slightest idea that the other male suspected he might be crazy and, if he had, the red leopard wouldn't have cared. Persaon's suspicions might not have been to far off the mark, anyhow. He had always been a wild and fun-loving leopard, and Kiganja a bad habit of getting into more than his fair share of trouble. That was how it had always been. So, in some ways, he probably was a little bit crazy. But that didn't really matter now.

"I've never seen it like this before," he informed the other leopard honestly, "the rain from the last few night's has had a powerful effect on this part of the river. You might try down stream, though. It narrows a bit. The only other way I know of crossing, which is quite a bit longer, is by going around the lake up stream. If you're a good traveller and light on your feet, it might only take a couple of days."

Persaon had never truly minded the quirky characters, it was just the bluntly crazy that bothered him. After all, a thief was quite the quirky sort, and he by no means seemed very sane with some of the risks and chances he took. No, it was the full blown nutcases that made him shy away. He had never encountered someone quite like that jungle lioness, and he was afraid if he ever did again, he would turn tail and run quickly - as far away as possible.

He turned his attention up stream, narrowing his eyes slightly. It would take a couple of days to get around the lake, perhaps a couple more for the river itself to calm. Then, if he went down stream, he might find a way to pass that wouldn't take him nearly as long. He considered it for a moment, then with a smirk, shrugged his shoulders. He was a gambler, he was sure all thieves were in a way, and he would take his chances down stream. Besides, the longest it could take was only a couple of days - right?

"Thanks," he said with a nod, dipping his head. Then, flickering his tail, he added, "my name is Persaon."

In his reasonably young life, Kiganja had been fortunate enough to not have encountered any truly crazy characters. Hen's parents had been a little bit loopy, but that was an entirely different kind of crazy . Still, all of that drama and tension was in the past, and that was where it ought to stay. He rarely liked to think about it, because it usually left a nasty taste in his mouth- like rotten meat.

If it had not been for his family, the red spotted leopard would have already ventured across the dangerous path downstream and would not have been sitting here, talking to this stranger. As it was, however, he had to take his family's saftey and security into consideration. He envied this male's obvious freedom to choose whichever path he wanted. Until becoming a father, Kiganja had never considered taking the path around the lake before.

"You're very welcome," Kiganja returned Persaon's nod and mimicked the other leopard's tail flick, "my name is Kiganja. Mind if I ask where you're headed?"