|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:15 pm
So… these were the lands of the Duma’Chama, huh? Kayin looked over the green hills sprinkled with white and pink flowers, regally as any king would inspect his lands. Admittedly, he looked a good deal more scruffy than most kings… perhaps a deposed Napoleon then, looking over the island of Saint Helena. It really was a lovely place, Kayin considered to himself. Lots of open spaces to roam but, at the same time, he could see any number of hidden nooks that could be used for a den. Angel had done well, to lead the coalition to such a paradise. Alright, so, he admitted it: he was still a little leery of this whole ‘coalition’ thing. There were still neighboring prides of lions around. What would happen when the lions finally noticed the cheetahs? Would they say, ‘Oh, jolly good! Whatsay we join the neighbors for a quick game of hide and seek?’ Not bloody likely! More likely, the lions would react by charging in and roaring and killing everything they could.
So… so, the best thing the coalition could do, was to hide themselves. It wouldn’t exactly be paradise, but at least they would be safe. The sound of running water entered Kayin’s ears and he eagerly limped towards the noise, suddenly thirsty. Flopping down at the side of the river, he looked into it with amusement, watching the little insects wave too and fro, skittering across the surface. But something caught his eye… standing up, he leaned more closely to the surface of the water, seeing something wriggling in the mud. Just what was that?
Tentatively, he patted the water with one paw, trying to stir up something. The creature in the water, startled by the movement, swam away quickly in quick undulating movements. Kayin followed its path from the shore, enamored by this newfound creature. He had seen many waterholes before, streams, little rivers… but had never seen something like this.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:40 pm
Today was Kolo’s turn to watch the cubs. Not that Nadifa and Kolo fought over who got to watch the cubs or anything… it was simply that they both felt it was important for the other parent to spend some time on their own. Cheetahs were, by nature, solitary hunters mostly. Besides, it was sometimes nice to meet new people. Since moving to the coalition, Nadifa had changed slightly. Oh, she still cringed if someone moved too quickly---and, this being cheetah land, there was a lot of quick movement happening---and she still stuttered something awful, but she was more confident now, at least with other cheetahs. She had even made a new friend!
In fact, it was a search for Ezuzu that brought Nadifa towards the stream, her steps light and airy. Ezuzu was a bit caustic at times, but the brown cheetah still enjoyed her company, if only because they were so unlike one another. It was… interesting, to hear things from someone else’s point of view. When she saw the black-and-white cheetah near the river, Nadifa smiled, thinking it was her friend. Breaking into a trot, she said, “Ezuzu? Is that y-you?”
But, as she approached even closer, she could see her mistake. For one thing, this cheetah was male. Also, he was mostly white. Also, he was now looking at her all funny, as if wondering just what she was doing here. Nadifa skidded on the ground, forcing herself to stop. Oh my… “I-I’m sorry…” she stammered, suddenly embarrassed. “I th-thought you w-were a friend o-of mine…”
The only male that Nadifa had any real contact with was Kolo himself. She wasn’t sure how to conduct herself around a male who wasn’t her mate. “…Are y-you trying to c-catch a fish?” she hazarded eventually, looking at the male’s wet paw.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:14 pm
Pulling his paw from the river, Kayin looked up at the female cheetah who had very obviously mistaken him for someone else. ‘Kayin’ didn’t even sound remotely like ‘Ezuzu’. Still, it would be nice to meet more cheetahs here, or so the king cheetah suspected. “Well, I’m not a friend of yours yet, but I’d like to be,” he said happily, not at all bothered by Nadifa’s stuttering. Alright, so it was a little weird… but, most cheetahs were a little edgy. It had something to do with the fact that it occasionally felt like everyone was out to get them. At the brown female’s next question, he glanced back at his paw.
“Oh, is that what they’re called? Fish? I’ve never seen them before. Are they edible? It looks edible.” Again, he switched his focus back down to the wriggling creature in the stream. It had dodged under some mud for now, dashing out of sight of the cheetah, but there were others. Lots of others, actually! They were so strange looking, so unlike anything Kayin had seen before. Again, he dabbled his paw in the water, causing mass terror and consternation among the fish, who dashed away once more.
This became a game for Kayin, who quickly moved to dabble his paw in a different area, trying to herd the fish in specific directions. It was amazingly amusing to watch the fish panic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:33 pm
Nadifa was at a loss of how to react. Socializing with other girls was one thing, but males were practically a whole other species to her. And what if he tried to flirt with her?! She was taken, thankyouverymuch and loved Kolo a great deal. Very few other males were willing to put up with her social issues… actually, come to think of it, if this male did try to flirt with her, he would probably be put off by her… issues. Satisfied with using her inadequacies as a weapon, she timorously moved closer to the male, standing beside him and looking down at the fish.
“Oh, y-yes… f-fish are delicious. It’s l-like…” she tried to think of a good way to describe the exact taste of fish. Eventually, after going through half a dozen words, she gave up and merely gave that shy smile of hers. “It’s very g-good. But they’re tri-tricky to c-catch because they’re s-slippery…” As a demonstration, her paw flashed out briefly, clawing at one of the fish. But, because of the constant layer of ooze and goo on the fish, the creature managed to wriggle free, but it was bleeding badly. “M-my name is Nadifa,” she went on to say, still watching the fish. “Are you n-new here?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:38 pm
Because of the way that Nadifa was watching the fish more than him, Kayin wasn’t sure who she was talking to. Actually, he was already considering moving away slowly, because you never wanted to stay around a crazy lady for long. They tended to be more violent than the sane-type, for one thing, and they were more creative about vengeance methods. Still, she seemed to be talking to him. And there was no harm in being polite, yes? So long as he was polite, he was pretty sure he could sleep without worry of any bits of his anatomy being cut off.
“Oh, I’m Kayin. Yes, Angel found me a few days ago and brought me here. That’s Aailyah, by the way. I call her Angel because she’s such a sweetheart and she has those lovely little wings on her back,” Kayin said conversationally, also watching the fish. Following Nadifa’s example, he tentatively put a paw back in the water and swatted at the fish. Because it was wounded earlier, it was slightly slower than its fellows and he actually felt the brush of scales against his footpads. Alarmed, he brought his paw back quickly. “Oh! It’s slimy! And sort of funny-feeling… is that normal?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:01 pm
Since this Kayin didn’t seem dangerous at all, Nadifa began to calm down, at least a little bit. It was… nice to see a new face. Aailyah had truly done a remarkable thing, finding so many cheetahs and bringing them all together. It would have been impossible without her Seer abilities. “A-angel?” she asked, vaguely surprised by the nickname. It was… cute, it really was. A bit too friendly, or so Nadifa thought, but she couldn’t say that to Kayin’s face. He probably just didn’t know better. And it was awfully cute, the way he patted the water and tried to catch a fish. Briefly, Nadifa allowed herself to smile; it wasn’t one of those quick-silver grins, but a true expression of delight, normally reserved only for Kolo and her cubs. It vanished soon enough, however.
“Yes, Aailyah is v-very nice,” she murmured, not sure what else to add. At least Kayin took care of that by acting all clueless with fishing. “Y-yes, they are c-covered in scales. Where are you f-from, K-kayin?” It felt like the right thing to ask. Besides, now that she was standing just a few feet away from the other cheetah, she could see that he had been injured. And fairly recently too… her eyes narrowed in concern. “Are you a-alright?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:16 pm
“What? Oh, yes, I’m perfectly fine now. See, when I was out in the world, there was some… trouble with some lions…” Kayin trailed off, because he hadn’t quiet thought through his entire story yet. Aailyah still hadn’t asked him about the whole story of how he had been injured and he felt that telling her the truth---that he had lied about being a Seer and had done some stupid things---would be a Bad Idea, one that fully justified the capital letter. “Anyway, suffice to say that I managed to drag myself here. Angel’s been helping me out with things until I’m better.” That was putting it mildly. In all honesty, he had been getting a bit attached to Aailyah, even to the point of considering her a friend. Huh. It was strange, worrying about someone who wasn’t himself.
Still, he did his best to help out the coalition. Sure, he wasn’t sure how he felt about a lot of cheetahs living in the same place, but it was important to Aailyah. That was good enough for him. Again, he tapped the fish, which was moving far more sluggishly now. Hooking his claws into it, Kayin pulled the fish onto the shore. Now it was suddenly alive with movement again, flopping around everywhere, much to the cheetah’s amusement. Wiggling his butt briefly, he pounced on the fish and batted it into the air, treating it like a toy. Sure, it was a living thing, but… it was funny! And it was all flopping around…
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, suddenly realizing that Nadifa was grinning at him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:24 pm
When Kayin began to play around with the fish, Nadifa couldn’t help but smile again, recalling her dear little kittens. They were getting older now; soon, they would go with their father on their first hunt. Or with her, of course, but she felt it was better for them to hunt with their father, at least at first. He was the better hunter of the two of them, and much better at explaining things. She blushed, realizing that she was staring---and smiling---at Kayin in a way that had to be downright creepy. Looking away abruptly, she suddenly discovered how amazingly awesome her feet were. Or, at least, it sure looked like it, by the way she was staring at them.
“N-nothing… I m-mean… you just remind m-me of m-my kittens… that’s wh-why Kolo and I c-came here. To raise our f-family in peace. It’s n-nice knowing that our k-kittens are safe.” That was putting it rather mildly, actually. Before, Nadifa had been terrified to leave her kittens alone for even just a few minutes, which put a huge strain on herself, the kittens, and Kolo. Now at least she and Kolo could switch their hunting duties, which gave them both plenty of time to hunt, to spend time with the family, and… well… with each other as well, since there were nannies to look after the kids.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:30 pm
Kayin smiled sheepishly, realizing that he really had been playing with his food. Alright, so it probably had been cute… still, he was pretty hungry. Curious about this ‘fish’, he gingerly licked it and was disappointed to discover that it tasted mostly like water. Then again, since that’s what the fish had just been swimming in, perhaps he should have expected that… “So, you have a mate named Kolo? And kittens? How many?” he asked curiously before finally ripping open the fish and tentatively nibbling on a bit of flesh. Oh… it was actually pretty good! Not like gazelle… it was far less… oh, what was the word? Fatty. Yes, it was much less fatty than the gazelles of the Savannah. Impala was still the best, but this would do until Kayin had time to find a real meal.
Eagerly, he tore into the fish and ate whatever he could, leaving only a few small bones. Unsure of what to do with the bones, he dumped them back in the river, figuring that it would be used by some other fish or something. Hey, it made sense! Surely, other fish ate fish and had to do something with the bones. And it was better than leaving them up here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:37 pm
“Y-yes… Kolo is my m-mate,” Nadifa said, relishing the word. Admittedly, they weren’t officially paired off through the ceremony of the Duma’Chama… hopefully, they would be one of the first. Now wouldn’t that be something? One of the first pairs of the coalition. “We have f-five kittens…” Now there was a true thing to be proud of. Most cheetahs had only two or three kittens per litter, but she and Kolo had been blessed with five. And not a single one had been lost to predators! Admittedly, there had been one or two close encounters---- Nadifa still had nightmares about that black demon lion who had tried to eat her darling kittens---but they had all survived.
“You’ll p-probably meet Kolo eventually… he’s the Chifu'Mwindaji… the h-head hunter, of my family group. Of course, I h-help with the hunting, but he handles m-most of it, es-especially now that the c-cubs are on solids. Soon, h-he will take them for their f-first hunt!” And what a wonderful day that would be… Nadifa could hardly wait to see her cubs march proudly next to their father and bring back mice or rats or birds…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:47 pm
Hmm… so, there was actually a male, somewhere out there, who could put up with Nadifa’s stuttering? This alone intrigued Kayin. He probably shouldn’t have thought about it like that, but he did anyway. Ah, well, there would be plenty of time to meet other members of this coalition. Finished with his meal, he briefly lapped up some water, idly wondering just who this ‘Kolo’ was. Must have the patience of a saint or something to put up with those stutters. The poor girl stuttered so much that even Kayin couldn’t fully understand her. And if this was what she was like when she was relaxed… good lord, she must have been as hopped up as a meerkat on mushrooms before!
“Congratulations on the cubs,” Kayin said idly, wondering if he could say anything else about that. In all honesty, he didn’t see what the big deal about cubs was. It wasn’t as if giving birth was difficult. Oh, sure, it was painful and all that, but he didn’t understand why that gave someone some sort of bragging rights. Even mice managed to give birth---many, many times---so was it really something to brag about? Stretching out elegantly, he yawned, suddenly feeling a little sleepy. “Well, Lady Nadifa, it was lovely to meet you, but I’m feeling a bit sleepy… I believe I’ll go take a nap. I’ll see you around sometime, I hope.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:52 pm
Completely missing out on the fact that Kayin didn’t consider motherhood a thing to be proud of, Nadifa only smiled. “Th-thank you. It really is a b-blessing. I hope to s-see you again, K-kayin. It is nice to see n-new faces around here, but even b-better to see them again.” That was a true sentiment; not many cheetahs stayed full-time and, when they did… well, it was nice to see them again. Nadifa had never been a very social cheetah, but she was discovering that she rather liked to have friends around her besides Kolo. Ezuzu, for example, was one of those new friends. “I’m s-sure we will s-see each other again some day,” she said, bowing just slightly.
As Kayin wandered off, Nadifa went to the river’s side to pluck out a couple of fish. Might as well bring home something for the kids to chew on. Oh, and Kolo too; it simply wasn’t fair to make him do all the hunting, head hunter or not. Gathering the fish in her mouth as best she could, she began trotting smartly away, feeling very pleased with herself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
