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Runihura the leopard was not happy. A large majority of that emotional state could be contributed to the fact that a week ago, he had been separated from his sister in a hyena attack. The rest was presumably due to the fact that in fleeing alone he ended up being completely lost in an unfamiliar territory - a great expanse of unclaimed savanna.

He was blue - literally - and stuck out like a bruised thumb in the waving golden grasses. In the jungle, blue was a passable color. Leopards spent so much time squeezing through trees that color was negligible factor in hunting. But here, open and exposed, it could prove fatal if he didn't keep his guard up.

Streaking through the grasses, he kept his silver eyes peeled for a tree. Anything he could climb up and escape the dangers of being stuck on the ground! He needed to spend some time reviewing his situation, and how to find his sister Nkosazana again.

The blue leopard was astounded. Not a tree in sight! And not a whole lot of other animals either, except for some large herds on the horizon, like clusters of ants. Rather than waste valuable energy, he slowed down to a more casual pace. This place was so confusing. If only Nko was here... she always knew where to go. Runi could hunt for himself, so he wasn't about to die of hunger, but that didn't mean he had a clue how to escape this place.

The grass crunched under his paws as he weaved through the grass. He was distracted by the possibility of dinner hanging out where the sky met the land. If he kept a good pace, he'd reach them in about an hour or two...

Runihura wiggled his nose. He thought he caught a whiff of something. Whatever it was, it was a smell he didn't usually come across. What was it? His mind was going through the sort of prey he usually ran across. Not a zebra, oh no, and definitely not a gazelle... It was a shame there were no trees around here, he could use a nap later that wouldn't compromise his safety. If there was one thing, he could be sure of, it was that the only two things you could find at the top of trees were birds and leopards.

All the while, Runihura continued to walk closer and closer to the hiding place of the starving lioness.

To the leopard, it appeared the grass itself had suddenly reared up and lashed out at him. Briefly he saw teeth and claws, but by then his legs had mechanically been set in motion. SURVIVE! his body screamed, and his instincts answered the call before he had even begun to register that what he saw was a danger! Runihura had bolted as fast as his legs would carry him. It felt like his blood had turned all to adrenaline, heartbeat dangerously fast. The mysterious attacker hit the grass behind him, but he couldn't look back, not yet, not yet. Find a tree. He'd be safe in a tree!

A tree! Thank the gods!

He slowed down ever so slightly as he approached it. Runihura's mind repeated the awful encounter in slow-motion. A beast lurking in the grass - perhaps even a lion! How could it have missed? This was a dangerous place, and he didn't like it at all. Lions during the day, hyenas at night. He'd never get back to any jungle at this rate. The leopard latched onto the bark and scrabbled up to safety. He only realized he was shaking when the branch reflected it in the noise it made with him sitting on it. He wasn't going to move an inch from this tree till the next day unless something came up and made him.

He shifted into a better position to sleep, safe behind curtains of leaves which blocked his small blue form from view. Light still seeped, dappled, through the gaps, but he turned his head aside and they no longer danced over his eyelids. Even with adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he found a way to ease his rapid breathing, and soon he was fast asleep, a quick catnap for a very startled cat.