Time for me to leave


Mirie woke up in the middle of the night. For the last few night he had not gotten a good nights sleep. Lee was laying next to Dhavlen, looking more peaceful than he had seen her for sometime. When they traveled together she never slept well, probably because Mirie was busy telling her what could go wrong and what could hurt them if they let her guard down. As he watched her lay there peacefully he realized that perhaps he was in the wrong. Maybe Dhavlen wasn't the bad guy.

He walked away from the two sleeping cheetahs. How cruel he had been to both of them the last few days. He glared and growled when ever Dhavlen would dare to look at him. The poor bloke was just trying to be friendly. And poor Lee. She was head over heels in love with the cheetah and he keeps telling her that he only wants to use her.

Maybe with him out of the picture the two of them could start a family. He wouldn't be around to stop them anymore. His paw was a lot better and he could run for a long time. He glanced back at the cheetahs. To his surprise one of them was missing. Dhavlen.

He was about to run and wake up Lee, when he heard a cough behind him. Instantly he twirled around. Dhavlen was standing there. "Good morning Mirie. Where are you heading?"

Out of instinct Mirie bore his teeth, but reminded himself that Dhavlen wasn't the villain he thought he was. "I wanted to go on a walk. It is getting rather boring here. Plus I thought a walk would do some good on my leg."

Dhavlen nodded his head. "Why don't I come along too. I haven't walked around for a while. Plus it will give us some time to bond." Dhavlen said as he walked forward. Mirie hesitated but followed the cheetah. "Leenah would like the two of us to become friends and I rather not disappoint her."

"I wanted to apologies for how I have been acting toward you." Mirie blurted out. Talking to Dhavlen made him feel even more guiltier than before. He hoped that Lee would forgive him for being such a jerk.

"Please do not apologies. I understand that us felines make you uncomfortable. I have heard about my kind being cruel do dogs like you and I do not take it personally. In fact I have an offer for you." Dhavlen said with a sly smile.

"An offer?"

"Yes my little doggie friend. I have a small gang of um…. friends and we rely on each other to be there for each other. I am the leader of this gang and we are recruiting. It would be rather helpful to have a wild dog amongst us." Dhavlen explained.

"Does Lee know about this gang?"

"No, but she is my girl and she will have to join. She will enjoy it though. I will tell her once we get back. Right now the rest of the gang is hunting down one of our members. He seems to have gotten lost. No worry though. He will soon be back amongst us."

"Why would he leave in the first place?" Mirie knew there was something wrong with this gang and Dhavlen. He hoped he was wrong for Lee's sake.

Dhavlen smiled with charm. He curled his tail over Mirie. "Lets just say he hasn't decided to join up yet. He's still thinking about it. Once we have him though he will be a willing member of our gang and he, like you, will enjoy our little adventures."

"I don't think I want to join your gang. Lee wouldn't either." Mirie said stepping away from Dhavlen. He knew he was a monster. He would have to hurry back and tell Lee. But first he would have to figure out how to outrun a cheetah.

Dhavlen stepped toward him. He was in control not this silly wild dog. "Mirie, mirie precious little Mirie. I was just being polite when I offered to let you join us. I rather not force you to join, but if you refuse I will take action."

"Is that what you do when others disagree with you? What are you going to do when Lee refuses to join? Are you going to hurt her until she joins?" He yelled loudly, hoping to wake up Lee.

"No no. I would never harm Lee. She would listen to me though. I am her prince and she is my princess. I will protect her and she will obey me. She already understands our relationship." Dhavlen said. "You know what since you are such a close friend to her I will do you a favor. I won't make you join, but in return you must leave and you can never see Leenah again."

"You think I would just leave without telling Lee about what you are planning?" Mirie said.

"Do you not want to see her happy?"

The words stung Mirie for a moment. "Of course not, with you she'll be unhappy."

"She is as happy as she was as a cub. This is the first time she has really been close to someone. Do you want to be the one who takes her away from her dream of happiness. You really are a horrible monster."

Mirie gasped. Dhavlen was twisting everything to suit him. Words were not going to win this fight. There was only one thing he could do. He lunged at Dhavlen, but Dhavlen just swatted at him with his paw. "Are we really going to be this barbaric?"

Mirie ignored him. He had to tell Lee. He attacked Dhavlen again, but this time Dhavlen just mearly dodged. Mirie hit the ground hard. He heard his front left paw snap.

"Poor little Mirie, falling to pieces." Dhavlen bite into his neck and started to drag him. Mirie struggled, but couldn't get away from Dhavlen. Than he stopped and let go of Mirie. "It's such a shame. Leenah is going to be so depressed when she hears that you decided to leave in search of a proper family. Not a fake one."

"She won't believe you."

Dhavlen grinned sinisterly. Than he gave Mirie a push. There was nothing below him, just air. He fell farther and faster. Only did he stop once he hit a ledge. "In three days you should be dead. Enjoy your last days of life."

Mirie shut his eyes. He would figure out away around this.



"Dhavlen, where is Mirie?" Her purple eyes looked at him, filled with worry. He could tell Leenah had searched around for both him and the stupid wild dog. "Did you find him? I think he ran away."

"Leenah, please don't fret. Your little wild dog realized that he didn't belong here. He wanted me to tell you not to worry about him and that he would enjoy if your paths crossed again." Dhavlen said rubbing his nose against hers. "He was really upset about leaving. I have never seen anyone so sad before."

Here comes the water works, Dhavlen thought as Leenahs' eyes got watery. "I already miss him."

"Leenah don't think of it as goodbye. You will see him again and when you reunite you will become even closer, because you will be able to share about both of your adventures and both of you will be in each others thoughts, so it isn't like he is truly gone from your life."

She smiled at him. "Thank you Dhavlen. I just hope he will be alright by himself."

WC: 1,272