Palia was relaxing. It had been forever since she had taken a break from her usual routine of roaming around the pride lands, searching for those who needed help. Today, it was gonna be all about her. She was sitting in a rather warm watering hole, warmed simply by the hot sun, and had two rabbits she had caught beforehand beside her. She was going to relax in a bath, and have a snack.
It was a good day. She sighed and sunk a little deeper into the water. But her ears perked up as she heard the footsteps of what she believed to be another rabbit! This day just kept getting better and better! The rabbits were actually coming TO her! It was too easy. Getting out of the water as quietly as she could, so she didn't scare the creature, she moved towards where she heard the footsteps. When she got there, she could see the rabbit, its back turned to her, munching away on some grass. "You're mine..." she whispered to herself.
Saiha too had decided to relax on this day. She padded her way down to the water of the hole. She took a few sips with her large tongue and decided to sink herself into the mud and water as well.
She had noticed that others were there, but she didn't mind. Nothing really pose a threat to her, and she wasn't about to go looking for fights to get in.
The cheetah looked over and noticed the wild dog inching up closer to something. Must be hunting, she thought. Thinking of being fiesty, she swam closer to where the wild dog was getting ready to pounce and let out a blood curdling roar. Followed by a series of chuckles.
"Ahaha. Poor dog." She said, peeking her head out of the grass.
Palia practically jumped out of her skin when she heard that roar. It was so loud! And so close! She turned around and saw... a cheetah girl? How did she not notice her? She didn't even smell her approach... And then she saw that the cheetah was in the water, which most definitely masked her scent.
"What did you do that-" she started to reply, but then she realized, "The rabbit!" she turned around and, as she had expected, the thing was gone. "What did you do that for?!" she said angrily, turning back around to the cheetah. "You had to have seen me going for that rabbit! What's your problem?!"
"Huh? I actually had no idea. I mean..." She stammered, not realizing the dog would have such a bad reaction to her action. "Eh...Sorry."
Looking quite awkward about this whole situation, she crawled out of the water and perched herself on the bank, facing the canine.
"Can I fetch you something to make up for it? A gazelle...or antelope or something?" Since she was a cheetah, it was extremely easy for her to catch prey. Almost as easy as taking a nap.
She gave the dog a smile, and bowed to her, hoping to gain it's respect back. "My name's Saiha."
Palia immediately calmed down when the female was actually sincere. She hadn't seen that one coming. "Umm, it's alright. I actually have two more rabbits back where I was lying in the water." she said, feeling really bad for yelling at the creature. "You're welcome to have one if you'd like to sit for awhile," she said with a smile.
"I've been enjoying a much needed day of relaxing." she said with a laugh, "I'm usually out tracking down those who try to harm others. And by that I mean bully's of course," she finished, walking back to where her other rabbits were. She pushed one with her paw towards Saiha with a smile.
As the dog offered her a rabbit she turned it away with a pleasant tone. "Oh no...I couldn't. I'm much too full already. I eat too much as it is." This dog seemed quite friendly, and Saiha almost felt bad for what she did. "You probably need that rabbit more than I do."
She gave Palia another friendly smile, and sat down in front of her. "Well. I don't really do good deeds...and I don't really do bad deeds either. I'm just an ordinary cheetah, I guess." She said with a chuckle and a flick of her tail. "It's cool that you help out around here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone came to you asking you to track down me!"
Palia smiled at the polite refusal of the rabbit, and pulled it back towards her. "Do you mind if I eat? I haven't all day," she said, starting to eat without waiting for an answer. "Mmmmm, nothing like the taste of rabbit!" she said loudly and with her mouth full. Same-old Palia.
"And there's nothing wrong with not being nice every once in awhile!" she said, "I wasn't nice at all to this lion I met recently, he was a real jerk. He challenged me to a race for a leg of meat, but after we started he just turned and walked away! And with the leg too! That made me so angry..." she said with a frown. Which turned right back into a smile as she turned back to Saiha, "Why would I need to track you down? You don't seem that bad!" she said.
"Go ahead. I don't mind. If you ever need something bigger to eat, feel free to ask." She said with a fake grin. Her stomach nearly turned upside down as she watched the dog eat the rabbit. Ugh. Rabbits. She had eaten way too many of those when she was a cub.
"Well that must suck. Lions are kind of rude...all the time. I've never met a lion I liked." She thought...she couldn't even remember a lion she had ever met. Maybe she didn't know. "Well. I don't really like cubs. I tend to call them names and growl at them." The cheetah said, chuckling. "But that might not be enough to warrant you coming out to get me!"
"Oh, so you don't like lions at all then?" Palia said, digging into the rabbit more, "I like all creatures, but just this one lion specifically I can't say I'm a big fan of... But anyways, I like all the animals! I try to protect them as best as I can. You see, I was bullied a lot when i was younger because I was so small, so I promised myself that when I got older I'd go and protect others from bullies, since no one did it for me."
Palia gave her a kind of odd look, "How do you not like cubs?! I haven't found a cub I didn't like. Yet" she added quickly, you could never be too sure, "Cubs and puppies are the ones I could never be mean too, they just don't know better. I'm actually... hopefully gonna be a mother soon..." she ended, with a smile on her face.
"Eh yeah. Cubs and pups just aren't my thing. You say you're expecting? Hah. Well I am too. Can't say I'm happy about it though. Don't know what I'll do when those buggers come out." She pondered her statement for a second then shrugged it off.
"Well the sun's starting to set. I better go catch my dinner before it gets dark." The dark cheetah gave the dog a quick nod. "Maybe I'll see you around again. Maybe when you have your pups. Might be kinda cool, I guess." The cheetah yawned widely. "Well. Sorry for scaring you earlier. Maybe I'll make it up to you one day."
And with that the cheetah darted off, leaving the wild dog behind to her own life. She'd probably make a good parent.
Palia was a bit amazed, what were the odds of finding another pregnant female somewhere as big as the Rogue Lands? "Wow! Well congratulations!" she replied, "And you can't possibly not know what you are going to do with the cubs, it's going to be amazing to be a parent!" she said with a laugh.
Palia nodded as Saiah said her goodbyes, it was starting to get late after all. "I have to see you again!" she said excitedly, "I have to see your cubs! And you have to see my puppies! So I'm sure we'll meet up again. And don't worry about the rabbit, it turned out to be a fun surprise meeting you. Take care!" she said as the cheetah turned and ran off. "She's gonna make a better mother than she thinks..." Palia said with a smile, before turning around and heading for that other rabbit.
