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 Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:29 am
Upon hearing that several suitable dens had been found, Nadifa’s heart leapt and she once again thanked the gods for finding her such a good mate. The compliment was accepted with a slight nod of her head; yes, she had done a good job. While she regretted the violence, she was pleased that the threat had been deterred. Anything was worth the life of her cubs, she felt, even her own life. So long as they had Kolo in their lives, the cubs would be fine. She listened carefully to the description and locations of the dens before starting to take off. After running a few yards, she ran right back and gave Kolo a quick nuzzle and a lick. “B-be careful,” she cautioned him, apparently forgetting that, not so long ago, she had attacked a lion. She smiled wanly before, once again, running off, kicking up dust behind her.
Kolo’s scent was still on the ground, making finding the potential dens all the easier. She ran dispassionate and calculating eyes over the prospective homes, judging and weighing the pros and cons. Those who met Nadifa generally became convinced of three things: one, she was extremely nervous, two, she was very loyal to her family and, three, she was so blinded by the first two that she wouldn’t pay attention to anything else. Two out of three of those were wrong; she paid very close attention to things indeed, mostly because of her paranoia and loyalty.
The tree. Hmm… she looked it up and down critically before turning away from it. No, that wouldn’t do. True, the thorns would protect them from lions, but leopards wouldn’t have much of a problem with it. They were nasty little tree-climbers, they were, and would find it laughably easy to get to poor little cubs. Next up was the rock structure. With her tail twitching, she walked around the structure, examining it from every angle she could find, short of flying directly over it. Hmm… it was better. Admittedly, it was easier for lions to access, but they probably wouldn’t be able to fit into the opening. Besides, one cheetah could defend it, blocking the egress. But, it was far too easy to find. Best to avoid fights by being too hard to find.
Finally, she looked over the fallen tree. Once again, she walked around it, going over her mental checklist. Difficult for lions to enter? Check. Hard for enemies to find? Check. Difficult for leopards to enter? Check, since it was far from living trees. Large enough for the whole family? Well… no check, but a bit of digging would solve that. And the tall grasses were absolutely perfect for growing cubs; she could easily envision the cubs practicing stalking among the tall strands. In fact, she did imagine it and smiled at the thought. But, the happy phase didn’t last for long. Her choice made, she started the trip back to the old den. All in all, her investigation of the prospective dens took a little over forty-five minutes.
“Kolo?” she said, approaching the old den. “You did a w-wonderful job… I l-like the f-fallen tree. It’s very n-nice. P-perfect.” She smiled at the gray cheetah, once again feeling very blessed.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:34 am
A lot was worth risking for the cubs lives, but in his time with Nadifa, he had become attracted to her as well. Losing any of them would be intolerable, especially to some lowly scavenger. Before he had met Nadifa, the male was attached to nothing, he wondered around looking for the only company worth sharing, that of another cheetah, then after a short time, he moved on looking for more company. He had stayed with the gorgeous cheetah longer then normal and things developed in a away he couldn't have anticipated, all for the better.
Watching her take off, he thought that would be the last he saw of her for a while and started to turn to the den and cubs within. The nuzzle and lick caught him slightly off guard, but he smiled to her and called out when she left, "Be safe and swift, we'll be alright." Shaking off the kicked up dust that had been drawn to his clean gray coat, he went back to his original purpose, the cubs. In to the den he went, nuzzling each in tern showing no favoritism just endless love for the cubs.
His smile was soured by the knowledge that while he was gone, someone nasty beast had even attempted to harm the precious little cubs How cruel, to take life before it even had a chance to feel the wind on their fur as they ran so fast it seemed they had wings. The life of a cheetah was so grand, to rob even one of the thousands of joys is beyond even a demon's act.
Moving so his body blocked the entrance to the den, he was determined that should the black furred beast return, it would be only over his dead body that the cubs would be within harms reach, of course for him to fall, the beast would be too far gone to be able to harm anything as it died as well.
The longer he waited with nothing to do but watch for predators, the more aggressive and bloody his thoughts became. Not even the tiny sounds of his cubs snapped him out of the darkening thoughts of genocide to all but cheetahs. However, hearing his name did pull him from the thunderstorm in his mind, and he had enough time to soothe down the tensed muscles and fur on end. Standing he watched her and listened to what she had to say.
Proud of himself for finding a den that she approved of as well, she smiled a bit and commented, "I am glad you like it, now we must figure out how to move the cubs. I suggest you take one at a time to the new den until there are only two left, then we will take them together, they would be safer at the new den for a short time alone and I can guard here." While he viewed himself as the patriarch and protector of his family, he was also one to listen as well. "What do you think, Nadifa?" In the end, he would go with what she decided unless he felt it was just too dangerous for the cubs, or her.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:35 pm
Moving the cubs would be a problem. No matter how dedicated a parent is, they could not be in two places at once. Nadifa knew. She had tried and gave herself a headache with the effort of it. Perhaps there was some way to break the space-time continuum, but she felt it was better to save her energy to defend her cubs. But, no matter what, the cubs would be alone for a brief time… Nadifa’s tail lashed in the dirt, moving the dust slightly; leaving the cubs alone while that… that lion was within a fifty mile radius was just asking for trouble. But, there was no other way. The new den was still secret. It was still safe. It would be ok to leave the cubs alone there for a little while. They weren’t moving around much, so were unlikely to call attention to themselves. But there was one problem with the plan…
“W-we cannot run forever,” she pointed out. “Instead of y-you staying here all the t-time, we should t-take t-turns. That way, one c-can regain strength b-b-before setting out with the c-cubs. We-we’ll be able to r-run all the f-faster.” She wasn’t going to risk one of her cubs’ lives by getting tired on the runs between the dens. It wasn’t really that far, as the cheetah ran, but they got tired quickly. That was the only reason why they were under the lion’s paw, so to speak. All a lion had to do was wait and watch as a hard-working cheetah caught her prey. Then the lion would swoop in on the exhausted cheetah and steal the prey while there was no resistance. It was despicable. And they all did it, if they had the slightest chance of it, the lazy creatures.
It suited her mental image of lions: she could easily imagine one of those foul beasts watching her little family right now, just waiting for the transportation of the cubs. And just waiting until whoever was carrying the cubs got tired, too tired to run at full speed, and then the attack would come. No, she was not going to let that happen. And neither would Kolo, she knew. Mountains would fall before Kolo would let anyone---beast or god---harm the cubs.
“D-do you think that’s a b-better plan?” she asked, wondering if she had missed anything.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 2:52 pm
Just watching her, and the dust brought up, he was sure she was agitated, what he wasn't sure of was if it was the plan or the lion around that wasn't setting well with her. There were small good signs while she talked, the stuttering was mainly with the first letter, even harder the notice then when it was in the middle of the word, even upset as she was, he didn't think she was doing half as bad as she might had this happened when he had first met her.
As she made her point, and the reasonable suggest, he conceded to them. Anyone who thought Nadifa was slow because of her stuttering was deeply mistaken. While he was a fast thinker, she was a in some ways a better one, seeing was he did not. While he did believe there were hardly any limits to what she could do, the gods had blessed the other animals by hobbling the cheetah. Taking away their great wind, a cheetah only had so much speed before they grew tired a benefit to everything on the savanna. Even hobbled, a cheetah was still the greatest of cats.
"You are right," he told her, his voice warm, "I'll go first, you stay here and rest." Giving her another nuzzle he turned to the den and picked up the first cub to go to the new den. He chose just because the cub was closet. The one he picked up was light gray like himself, a white stripe going from his eye to his jaw and a bit more white for his paws and tail. Carefully, the jaws usually used to kill picked the cub up but the neck scruff gentle as could be.
Walking out again, he turned to look at his mate to see if there was anything else she wanted to say or point out before he began his journey with the first of the five cubs. Running full speed didn't sound smart, not only would holding the cub cause some slow down, he didn't want to hurt the delicate little cubs either. The outside world he could fight with fang and claw, but his own action would have no one to fight; he always tried to be as careful as could be with them every chance he spent with the cubs.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:38 pm
When she was very, very young, Nadifa had once heard the story of the hare and the tortoise, about how the slow and steady reptile had won because of intelligence. She thought it was a foolish tale, mostly because there weren’t any cheetahs involved. Upon thinking about it, she decided that, since there clearly wouldn’t have been any competition between a cheetah and any other creature, the cat had gracefully declined from the offer to race. Gotta give the lesser creatures a chance. The point was, she preferred to think slowly and carefully, just to make sure she didn’t miss anything, especially where the safety of her family was involved.
And, because the safety of her family was involved, she knew that Kolo was right. She would stay behind first, since she had only recently returned from the new den. It was best for her to rest up a bit. Anxiously she watched as Kolo selected the first cub, her tail nervously twitching beside her. She trusted Kolo with her life, with their cubs lives. But, with all the dangers out there… it was a dangerous time, to be a young cheetah growing up. Cheetahs were declining everywhere, simply because they couldn’t outbreed the leopards and lions and hyenas. Noble as the cats were, nobility simply couldn’t compare to sheer numbers.
“Ju-just d-don’t g-g-go too fast…” she urged him, knowing that there could be some danger in running at full speed while carrying a cub. What would happen if Kolo tripped while carrying the little gray cub? Or, more likely, what would happen if he was attacked while running? What if, by some chance, a lion was lying in wait along the path? No, she couldn’t think like that. If she worried about that, she would never stop worrying. She smiled at Kolo, a grin of hope, before she went back into the den to wash the remaining cubs.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:03 pm
Kolo nodded slightly to Nadifa's stuttered warning, he would go a good speed but not fast for the cub's sake. With as bad as she was stuttering, he also wanted to get this done quickly for her, as well. He could take on the world, but the stress it was putting on his family was just too much.
With that all that was being said, he turned and trotted off, picking up speed he got to a very swift walk. His long legs helped carry him a longer distance then any lion or other lower animal could, so the pace would easily keep him above anything unless it tried to run.
Because of the extra care, and lower speed it took him almost 50 minutes to get to the new den. Digging a little, he slinked his way into the den and hid his son in the back for the absolute safety. Nuzzling, he spoke calmly to the cub to soothe any troubled feelings the run might have caused. Pushing a little cool dirt and sand away and to the sides, he made the entrance a little harder to get into, but nothing for a slender cheetah, and the inside was a bit roomier. Quietly, he spoke into the den, urging the cub to be very quite and very still.
Feeling as safe as he could about this without being able to stay, he turned and trotted to the west before darting back to the old den and the rest of his family. Stretching fully out before scrunching in, he got the most out of his legs as he ran. The burst of low level speed followed by quick walking brought him back home in half an hour. Approaching, he was looking out for signs the lion came back as he called, "Nadifa, I have returned, he is safe in the new den." With five cubs, this would certainly take much longer then he'd like, it would like also greatly distress the cubs, but what else could they do?
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 12:11 am
It was long and slow work, transporting the cubs. For cheetahs, give was an unusually large litter, and Nadifa and Kolo were both determined not to lose any of them, especially not to something as avoidable as a traveling accident. Every step was carefully chosen for the maximum safety of the precious bundles they carried, wary of every stone that could possibly trip either cheetah up. The journey was made all the longer due to the fact that, eventually, one of the parents had to pause in order to enlarge the new den a bit. It didn’t have to be much bigger; after all, at this point, it just had to be large enough to hold all five of the cub. Later on, when both parents were present, the pair would work together to make it large enough for the whole family.
Finally, the last two cubs---the two sisters---were safely nestled in the back of the den with their brothers and Nadifa heaved a sigh of relief. Still, this was no time to relax completely. The sun was just starting to set and that was when the lions came out to hunt. The lazy creatures would relax under the afternoon sun, lazing about in the shade and waiting for some other creature to do their hunting for them. But, once night fell… well, there was a dangerous time, right when night began to suffuse the afternoon. The ground was still warm, but vision was weak. Every day and night was a harrowing existence for a cheetah.
But, thanks to Kolo, Nadifa knew that their children would not have to face the same troubles she had as a cub. And soon, soon they would find the coalition. Safety beckoned, instead of teasing as it normally did. For once, the light at the end of the tunnel really was a light and not just an oncoming train. Outside the den, Nadifa finished moving aside some of the dirt, trying to spread it around so the den would be all the more hidden from prying eyes. Sure, it was only temporary, but their children deserved the best chances they could get. All cheetahs did.
With a yawn, she returned to the den, sparing a moment to give Kolo a nuzzle and a lick. “Thank you, Kolo,” she murmured. Wow. Two whole sentences in one day without a stutter. Clearly, that was some sort of record. “Y-you… it’s a-all thanks to you. They are s-safe.” With that, the brown cheetah vanished into the new den, curling around her cubs to defend them against the cold of the night.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 12:32 am
It really showed itself as they moved the cubs; the journey to the coalition would be a slow and arduous task. For even when the cubs were old enough to walk with their parents, they couldn't be expected to keep up the pace two adults could do easily enough. They were just too young for that, what cheetah's also had besides speed would be what would save them in the end, intelligence.
Finally able to rest, the young male was finally tired, mentally and physically. It would be unlikely he would know that feeling once they got to the coalition, but it was nice for now not to be restless and agitated. Mellow, he looked out to the surroundings feeling very good about the spot he and Nadifa decided on.
Purring a little at the shows of affection from his mate, he returned them and listened to her speak. Almost missing it, he did catch the full sentence, the little perfect little achievement to end the day off with. Smiling, the sleek cat carefully made his way into the den as well, supporting Nadifa in keeping the den warm for their cubs’ safety and comfort. With a nuzzle to the cubs, and to their mother's side since it was easiest to get to, he looked out of the den, determined to keep watch for a bit before the final calm for his mind claimed him. Until then, it was like water for the dehydrated, half delirious.
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