It's bad enough that he had the darkest coat... and he was a boy. But he was also the slowest, clumsiest cub the pride had ever seen! Or, so he assumed. And he was a cheetah! He was supposed to be fast! The gods must really hate him...
The cub huffed, letting his rump hit the ground with all the frustration he'd built over a night time of thinking about this problem. He had to do something to prove himself to the gods. How would he ever make his mother proud if he didn't? Or his brothers?
From the corner of his eye, Kiume saw the flash of colors again. He narrowed his pink eyes at the rustling bush, stealthily raising himself to his paws to take a closer look. He creeped on his toes without a sound - he couldn't be fast, but at least he could be quiet... if only it was good enough. The orangey pelt darted from bush to bush in a blur of speed. Kiume couldn't help but to look on with swelling envy. What was that thing, and how could it be so fast? Without hesitation the cub wandered after it, following the scent and sound carefully. Maybe if he could catch up he could ask how it was so fast...
The hare peeked from the foliage with a smug grin as he watched the clueless cub stumble gracelessly after the trail he created. It's been so long since he had a proper "toy" to play with. He was so glad among all the bizarre pale lions he'd found a cheetah misfit. It was easy to identify with a misfit, but this cub was beyond misfit. He couldn't even walk straight if he wanted to! Moake chuckled at the thought, peeking his head from the bush as Kiume wandered right past it.
"Pssst... Hey, kid." Mo's oversized ears were strong and erect, alert and receptive to everything that might be a threat. Of course, Moake himself didn't have a lot of threats. The felines that prowled the mountains were much to cumbersome to catch him. He was the self proclaimed fastest hare in the sky. Even a speedy hawk couldn't outmatch his wits and speed.
Kiume could have sworn he saw it enter this bush, here... The cub stumbled right past the hare's true hiding place to nose his way into a thorny bush. He quickly realized how bad of an idea that really was as he pulled away with a few scrapes across his nose. The cub would just have to wait until he saw it again... It couldn't stay there forever, after all...
A voice startled the cheetah, and he spun around on his tiny purple paws to see an orange face staring right at him. There were some pretty large ears attatched to the face, and they were no doubt distracting. Very distracting. Kiume wondered if this cub knew his ears were so deformed... ?
"Whoa... Uhm... How are you so fast?" Kiume perked with a big smile, hoping finally his question would be answered.
Moake chuckled. Oh yes, this would be fun. "How am I so fast?" He repeated, as if it was a rediculous question. "How am ... I.... so fast?" He shook his head with a grin, placing his blue toes against the earth and letting his hind end emerge from the bush. Moake walked closer to the cub, it was almost awkward considering how bulky and huge his hind legs are compared to the rest of him. "I'm a hare, my dear boy. All hares are fast. But you just happen to be looking at the fastest of all hares."
Kiume's little inexperienced eyes widened as the foreign creature came into view. Not only were his ears HUGE but he had no tail at all! Maybe this cub was blessed by the gods? But he didn't have a white coat... and he wasn't a female... Kiume brushed the thought aside.
Oh, a hare. The only time Kiume had ever seen a hare was when mama brought them breakfast - bits of fur and flesh dangling from the corpse with missing limbs and delicious chewy meat. The cub had never seen a live hare before... But Kiume wasn't hungry, nor did he understand how to turn a live hare into a delicious corpse. He'd much rather learn how to run fast, anyway.
"Well uh... can you teach me how to be fast?" He said hopefully, his tail swaying behind him.
In all of his confidence, Moake placed his blue paw on Kiume's much smaller nose. This was bound to be more fun than the rabbit had ever imagined. "Well... Maybe!" He said dramatically, swinging his head towards the sky as if to inquire with the gods.
"Hm... yes! Actually..." Just to keep the boy on edge, the rabbit continued his charade. "No... no, I shouldn't... but then!" A dramatic pause here, an enthusiastic sway there... "Okay! I will." Moake finally came to a conclusion and took the boy's cheeks in his paw, pressing his forehead against his as if forcing him to pay good attention. "You're a lucky one, my friend. I've decided to teach you how to be fast! How do you feel, being the only privileged feline to be worthy enough to learn from the fastest of all hares?"
The frail cub practically shook with anticipation as the hare preformed his over dramatic charade. Then, finally! Yes! The answer was yes!
"You will? You will?" Kiume's butt wagged so hard that the rest of him couldn't keep up. He would be all over the place if it weren't for the rabbit holding his head in place. The cub was much too excited to do much of anything else, including answering the question from the hare.
"Calm down boy, spazzing like a lunatic is not going to help you be the fastest cheetah in all the mountains, is it?" Moake laughed deeply, releasing Kiume's cheeks and taking a single hop backwards. "Tell me your name boy, and then I'll tell you what you need to do to begin the first lesson!"
"Kiume! It's Kiume!" The cub wiggled, proving completely unable to contain his excitement.
"My name is Moake, but you can call me Master Moake. I think we'll be good friends." The hare chuckled, giving the cub a wink before lowering himself to the earth as if ready to dash. "Now ... before we begin your first lesson... you have to catch me." Before Kiume could even react, the hare was gone in a burst of speed.
Kiume blinked. The hare disappeared! And all he had to do was catch him to begin the first lesson? That should be simple enough... Kiume stumbled after the invisible rabbit's trail, as clumsy as ever... oblivious that he'd be quick and strong in no time at all.
Word Count: 1144
