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Gahiji had found a comfortable spot to rest, tucked away under a large boulder. He felt so safe that he had let go completely, lying on his side with his long body leisurely stretched out, and he was just about to drift off into a comfortable slumber when he heard someone shouting.

Throwing an annoyed glance around his surroundings, he quickly spotted the perpetrator - and since the bright white, noisy character was just another cheetah and not some more dangerous animal, Jii voiced his opinions loudly:

"Pipe down, would ya? I'm trying to get some sleep here!"

Pekee's head whipped around, his green eyes finding and latching onto the black male with ease. Where had he come from? Or, had he been there all along?

The white cheetah, not having much experience with his kind - or any kind for that matter - drew back a little.

This one certainly sounded grouchy.

He brightened as little Hidaya scuttled into sight and sidled slowly towards her, his eyes never leaving the black-spotted cat. "Friend?" Pekee mumbled. "I don't think so." His tail swished. "He told me to shut up and I barely said a word." Great, so he really was an irritant.

Maybe he should just sneak off now before his presence agitated Hidaya too.

The pink hybrid sat down, watching the dark stranger curiously as her head cocked to the side...looking innocent enough as she watched the black cheetah who hadn't replied to her greeting.
As Pekee spoke she looked back up to him, smiling sweetly up at him before she thought for a moment.

"Well...maybe he's just tired...my daddy loves me and mommy, but he can get grumpy when he's tired." She said, so naieve to the fact that maybe this dark cheetah was just generally bad tempered or maybe didn't like anybody, or had no manners...she just saw the bright side of everything.

Hidaya then, being herself casually scampered towards the motionless figure of the dark cheetah before plopping down infront of him, still smiling away as her tufted tail swayed back and forth, in and out of view.

"Are you trying to sleep, mister?" She asked in that cheery, sweet little voice once more.

Gahiji's eyes grew larger as the pink little girl came trotting up to him with a friendly, open-hearted smile on her face. Seriously, what the hell? Had no one taught this little kid not to trust strangers? And the white cheetah didn't seem like the best guardian for her, either - if anything, he seemed to be hiding behind the child.

Not that Jii was going to hurt the girl. He had his pride, after all, and if she got really annoying he could just walk away. Probably. But the world was full of creatures who were a lot less friendly than he. The tip of his tail started moving slowly, betraying his confusion, as the little girl came up close and then unceremoniously slumped down right in front of him.

He tried to give her a stern scowl, intending to teach her a valuable lesson on approaching strangers all by yourself, but couldn't quite bring himself to put too much harshness into it.

"Well, not anymore," He answered, trying to at least put some sarcasm into his voice. Damn those big, innocent blue eyes!

"H-Hidaya! He clearly doesn't want to be bothered...we should..." He trailed off, his eyes darting from side to side nervously. He never realised how scared he was of being around others, especially others his size.

He caught her tail lightly in his mouth to keep it from twitching and gave it a gentle tug, urging her to back off.

"I'm sure he's got more important things to do than waste time on us." It seemed he still didn't think much of himself, despite the fact he had been with chirpy Hidaya for a couple of days now.

The little hybrid let out a slightly suprised mew as her tail was tugged by her friend, blinking at him from over her shoulder curiously before stepping back a little and smiling at him.

"Come on Pekee, he isn't dangerous if he was he would've done something bad by now...maybe he really wants to make friends?"

This all was before Gahjii's words had hit her ears that flickered softly with them and she watched him curiously.
Her brows furrowing slightly before she smiled at him.

"Well yes, but if I never spoke to strangers, I would never make friends." She said and stood there watching on towards the dark cheetah as he spoke towards the pale white male behind her.
Almost instantly she stepped forward, looking up at him as her blue eyes looked pleadingly at him.

"Please, don't blame Pekee." She started. "He didn't do anything wrong, he's just nervous because you're a new person, a lot of creatures get that way, right Pekee?"
Her eyes turning to look back at her pale companion.

Gahiji just frowned at the little girl, partly because he really didn't know what to say, and partially because it felt slightly annoying to him that she, the sweet little kid, would have to take the role of defender on behalf of her full grown friend.

He got up slowly, so as not to display any hostile intentions, and sent the white cheetah an unconvinced sidelong glance. "That so, whitey? Then you're just a lucky guy, I guess." He tilted his head in a not-very-subtle manner that showed off the nasty, jagged scars that adorned the left half of his forehead. With a slightly more earnest look at Hidaya, he carried on: "I'm not saying this to be mean, kid. I'm saying it because I had to learn about it the hard way, and it would seem like a waste if the same thing would happen to you - when it really didn't have to, I mean."

He sat down, neatly encircling his paws with his thick tail, and quietly admitted to himself that he had let himself be charmed by the blue-eyed little critter far too easily. Well, couldn't really be helped now, could it?

"Not all strangers are friends, y'know" he said, rudely pointing at the white cheetah with his forehead without even looking at him. "On that point, you should listen more to your pal over there."