Zia stared at the rock in front of her, a mound of berries on a much smaller, flat rock beside her. There was supposed to be a picture on this rock...The surface was too perfect for it to NOT have something on it! But...the 'what' escaped her. Not the scenery. Not any of the small prey creatures that ran around...No. Zia could not, for the life of her, find something that was perfect for the rock face.
Sighing, she stared at the berries next to her. "It seems you may go unused..." And she loved painting with these ones. They made such pretty blue juice...
That was when Samawi wandered into her area, dual-colored eyes wide and curious as he sniffed at the plants of the area. It was his first time wandering around outside the den, so he wanted to take in everything he could. His tail twitched slightly behind him at he sniffed a rather fragrant flower.
Zia blinked, catching sight of something in the corner of her eye. Looking up, she blinked. What...was that? It looked furry and feline...but it didn't look a thing like her or her sisters! Not even the mutant 'sister' Vimbizi! Curious, she trotted over, careful not to accidentally squish her berries in the process. Didn't want the juice drying up yet.
"Hello?"
Samawi started slightly, eyes going wide as he turned to glance at Zia. He was still for a long moment before he tentatively made his way towards her. She wasn't like his sisters... Or his mom... She looked kind of like his dad, only she didn't have a mane. Then again, his dad didn't have the biggest mane... Maybe she was just born that way?
"Hello!" he said back after a long moment of silence, tail flicking behind him as he grinned. "I'm Samawi'juu!"
The other seemed friendly. Zia smiled. "I'm Zi'athari! But Mama and Papa call me Zia!" Ha! Papa Kono couldn't correct her if she wasn't around. "So...what are you?" She looked 'her' over, curious. "I've never seen someone like you..." And 'she' had blue...Maybe...maybe Zia could paint this new creature!
"I'm a cheeton! My dad's a lion, and my mom's a cheetah! So I'm a little of both!" Samawi said, puffing up his chest proudly. "It's nice to meet you, Zia!"
Dad? What was the meaning of this 'dad' word? "A...cheetah...?" Zia thought, then a firefly light up her thoughts. "OH! Papa says they're really fast...but I've never seen one." She lightly poked the other's chest. "So I guess I kinda have, now that I've seen you Samawi!" She giggled. "My Mama's a lioness~Prettiest one to exist!"
"Well, my Mom and my Grandma are the prettiest cheetahs ever!" Samawi said, grinning and moving to circle Zia curiously.
Zia giggled. "With your coat...I can tell!" Yes...yes! This cheeton would be her newest painting! "Hey~ Ever been painted?" His colors were perfect for her to use the blue berries!
"No... So, are you going to paint on me or paint me?" Samawi asked curiously, shifting to sit down.
Zia grinned. "I'm gonna paint you!" She bounded the small distance to her rock and berries. "See...I got this rock here, and I couldn't figure out what to paint on it. But then you came along...and you're perfect!"
"Alright! So, do I have to stay still or pose or something?" Samawi asked, bounding over to the stand in front of the rock with a grin.
Zia thought. "Hmmm...Maybe a pose...Something heroic looking!" She nodded. "Yeah...you looked pretty awesome with your chest puffed out all proud-like!"
"You mean like this?" Samawi asked, striking the most heroic pose he could think of and puffing his chest out.
"Perfect!" The tan cub quickly squished the berries beside her and began her work. A single digit here, using a claw there...She got his outline and smiled. She dipped her paw in the juices again and continued. His markings, the look on his face, where the mane was a different color than the body...
Samawi waited as patiently as he could, trying to stay as still as possible. But he couldn't wait to see the picture!
Zia's face went from one of concetration to one of pride. Her newest piece was done. "You can see it now!" Despite her age, she was fairly good...so it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't your average cub-scrawl either.
Samawi eagerly romped over to look at his picture, and his eyes went wide with joy. "So, I really look like that!?" he enthused, a grin splitting his face.
Zia nodded. "Yup!" Her tail wrapped around her front legs. "Haven't you looked in water and seen yourself?" Samawi was an interesting cub. Not knowing what he looked like? Weird...
"Well, not really. I don't want anything scary to come out of the water and snatch me away!" Samawi said, his eyes wide with innocent fear.
Zia blinked. "Snatch you away...." She had never thought of that. But then she huffed. "Well...let's go find some water! If anything tries to snatch you...I'll whap 'em good!"
"But the boy is supposed to be the hero! Not the girl!" Samawi said, his face scrunching up in distaste. "I'll protect you!"
Zia blinked again. Boy? Ugh...there was that weird word again. "But...boys are just girls who look different." And nothing her Papa or Mama said could change that. Why else would Mama have three girls and one boy! The boy had to be a different type of girl! Despite her 'sister's' protests.
"What? Well, boys and girls do look different, but boys and girls are still different!" Samawi huffed, now as confused as poor Zia.
Zia shook her head. "Ugh...let's just go find some water. Thinking about this makes my head hurt." Why did the different-girls have to argue about it. What was so wrong about being a girl?
"Alright. But I'll protect you if anything tries to hurt you!" Samawi insisted, striking his brave pose and prancing off in search of some water.
