It was sunny. Midday on the African savannah usually brought weather of that kind, the sun's warm rays beating down harshly on the savannah, allowing no part of it respite from the warmth. If a creature had wanted to cool down, they'd have either had to burrow underground away from the rays, or attempt to hide behind one of the many small pebbles scattered across the sand. Luckily for Chache'Kindu, however, she wasn't trying to avoid the sun. She was actually quite fond of it, enjoying the warm feeling on her back. Minty-green eyes weren't focused on anything other than the small, slow-moving creature in front of her, though, a huge grin plastered on her face.

She'd spotted the tortoise almsot an hour ago, crawling across the savannah. And it had just looked so funny - it moved so slowly! Originally the lion cub with a strawberry butt had batted at it, knocking it over onto it's back before onto it's front again. But she'd eventually gotten bored of that, and had instead began to follow it. Very, very slowly. The deaf lionness watched, completely engrossed by the sight of the tortoise - she wouldnl't have noticed anyone else even if they crashed into her head.


Somebody should've told Shokora to stay home that day. Someone should've told him that it was always best for a cub to stay close to his mama at all times. Unfortunately for the leopard cub, he had only ever known his mother, and she was mute.

Bright pink eyes soaking in every detail of the savanna, the cub continued to stroll a bit away from his mother's den. He admired the clouds as he walked, marveling at their whispy texture and soft, white colors. Some were darker than others, he noticed. How strange clouds were...What were they? What made a cloud? And how could it fly without wings?

With that riddle in his mind, Shokora shifted his head back down to earth. As he did this, he spotted something positively wonderful.

A tortoise.

The smallest of smiles flashed on the cub's face, but it vanished just as quickly as it had come. And then he was racing towards it, tiny paws bounding through the pale-colored grasses. He jumped through a particularly tall patch of long grass that he had seen the tortoise go behind. Just as he made his way to the other side, he skidded to a halt with a loud gasp, gaping at what was in front of him.

A lion cub. Shokora stared nervously for a moment, glancing down at the dark-colored tortoise and then back up into the green eyes of the cub. Should he keep following it, ignoring the cub...? Or...Leave? Sho was confused.


Any other cub, and they might've looked up curiously at the sound of pawsteps, and at a gasp. But for the deaf lionness that was Chache, her usually observant nature was currenly all focused on follow this tortoise, meaning she didn't move in the slightest, except to take a step forward after the tortoise. It's shell...it was just so SHINY!

In fact, she didn't realize Shokora was there until she walked...well, she literally walked straight into him. A loud 'MROWL' escaped her maw in surprise, since she hadn't had any idea that the leopard cub was there. She stumbled backwards, her front paw catching on the tortoise and causing her to stumble and fall onto her back, rolling backwards rather haphazardly. She didn't come to a stop until gravity forced her to, Chache flopping onto the ground with a small mew, watching Shokora curiously. Almost as if she didn't care she'd just been scared out of her wits and gained several new bruises. Hey - maybe he'd be her friend!


Brown lids narrowing over pink eyes, Sho continued to stare, perhaps not liking what he saw. The girl was obviously clumsy, just bowling into him like that. What was she thinking? Sneaking up on him and following his tortoise...

Yep. His tortoise. He had seen it first, he was sure. Besides, his reasons for following it were probably better than hers...He was actually interested in observing it. She was probably just following it for fun. All lioness were like that, after all. He didn't like lions. Lions made his mama unhappy.

Suddenly feeling irritated by the other brown cub's presence, Sho turned his back on her and continued to follow the slow-moving tortoise.

However, Shokora hadn't thought about what he would do if she followed.


Oh, following certainly wasn't in Chache's nature unless she had a reason. She'd followed the tortoise because she'd been bored. Because she'd had nothing else to do, and it had fascinated her. How could something like that move so slowly? But following Shokora had a much, much greater prize. The prize of a new friend. But Chache, despite her disabilities, wasn't the type to follow quietly. Oh no.

And it was this precise reason that had her bounding after Sho, prancing around him, occasionally darting in to bat playfully at his tail, or his cheeks. She reared up onto her back legs, a quiet, playful growl escaping her maw, although no words were spoken. She didn't know what words sounded like, so simply didn't use them. Besides, she could convey all her emotions quite easily by not speaking, just as she was now. It was blindingly obvious that she wanted to play.


Sho's heart sped up when he saw the cub bounding after him and pawing at him, as if enticing him to play.

The leopard cub lowered his head, almost shyly, and continued to follow the tortoise, body moving around to the other side of the tortoise to keep away from the little lioness. Unfortunately, the tortoise was slow. Therefore, Sho wasn't exactly moving quickly. He gritted his teeth, glancing over at the cub every now and then. He didn't understand what she was doing. Trying to play? Sho had never played with another cub before. He had plenty of fun just being with his mother, so it didn't bother him. He had seen other cubs at play in the distance at times, but he'd never once felt a want to do what they were doing.

When one of the lion cub's swats brushed his cheek, Shokora spun around. He swatted at her, trying to be threatening with a little growl. But he tripped over the tortoise and his harsh swat turned into a playful nudge.

Darnit!