It had been weeks since she'd stumbled upon Ru (ok fine, since he had nearly run into her), and Tiombe found herself to be one content kitty, generally speaking. Now, not only did she not have to hunt for her meals anymore, but Ru seemed to be eager to help her in whatever she needed done... not that she required much done, or anything.
"Ruuuuu," came the typical whine, "I'm booooored."
She lay near the waterhole, her paws dipped slightly in the water, cooling themselves from the sweltering heat. It was simply too hot to do anything today, and boredom was setting in.
"Ru, tell me about your leopard family. What's it like, to live with leopards?"
Runi was busy pulling feathers off his recent meal, a bird he'd scrambled up a tree to pounce. The feathers floated in the shade of the tree and piled up at the base. The distractions this past week had helped, but sometimes at night as he curled up in the boughs of a tree he couldn't help but let his (small) mind wander. Nkosazana could never be found in a world this big, with so many 'here's to scour. The best he could do was hope she was alive and well...
This was a tough feather to pull. What would she think of Tiombe? Nko always said not to trust lions. But he wasn't dead yet! Tiombe wasn't anything like he'd always been told lions were. Another feather came off. His ears twitched and turned, following the voice from below. A blue leopard face poked out of the branches, looking down at the water and the green lioness.
"Oh, there isn't a lot to it." He scrabbled and bounced his way down to earth, landing amidst a cloud of feathers. "We lived in the jungle! It was hot and wet and a little cramped, but fun. A lot more trees than this place. It was just me, my sister, and my mother. But uh..."
He trailed off, warily.
She turned to watch him, her eyes lazily glancing up towards the tree, following him as he leaped onto the ground. The dust that flew up caused her to let out a sneeze, but she was far too lazy to fuss at him over it.
Letting out a 'hmmmm' as he spoke, she turned her focus to the feathers slowly floating down from the tree after him.
"I've never been to a jungle before... lions must not go there, if it's crampy, like you say."
Turning back around, she lifted one paw out of the waterhole and shook it, the beads of water flying off, shining in the sun for a brief moment.
"I had a family, with a Momma and a sister like you. But I had a Daddy." Blue eyes darted back to the leopard. "Didn't you have a Daddy, Ru?"
"Lions are too big! And too hairy - not you, other lions! Lions'd probably get caught in all the plants between being big and being hairy. And I bet you've never climbed a tree before. You have to do that a lot in the jungle. " He smiled faintly at remembering the jungle. He and Nko had moved on from the jungle a long time ago, but had briefly lived in other jungles too. Wherever he was now was about the exact opposite of a jungle - wide, open, empty. "Where did you come from? Another 'here', or a 'there'?"
"I don't think so... just a mother." He twisted around to scratch his head with his foot. He didn't clamp down well on his thoughts, and blurted out, "I only remember her from when I was a cub, though. She could have been my father, but she had a high, girly voice, like you have. That's why I've always thought she was my mother."
Wrinkling her nose, she nodded her head. "Yes, yes, if it was a voice like mine, then that would be your Momma. Though it's weird you don't have a Daddy, maybe he got lost or somethin'. I mean, because you have to have a Daddy to make... well, YOU."
She gave a sage nod as she removed her other paw from the water, eyeing the warthogs on the other side of the waterhole that were submersing themselves. Ugh. Just like a pig to dirty the water up.
Leaning over, she swatted playful at her companion, hoping to catch him off balance as he scratched himself. If she had the energy, she'd be up for a game of chase, but she was still far too exhausted from the heat.
"Myyyy parents," she started, making sure she sounded far prouder than she was of her heritage, "Wandered. Therefore, my sisters and brothers wandered too. From here to there, I don't really recall their names."
Her nose scrunched again, finding herself frustrated by lack of memory. "I guess they're not really THAT important, if I can't remember the names. Do you think you could take me to the jungle one day, Ru? I promise I won't cramp up the place!"
At the last second he saw the paw swinging at him from a confusing angle - his head was still sideways. His muscles seized up, causing him to fall over in a heap, narrowly avoiding it. "Oof!"
It was too hot to bother getting up again, so he wiggled and rolled until he could see Tiombe again. He hadn't really thought too much on the process by which baby leopards were produced. "I... I guess."
"Hey! My sister and I wandered too! I haven't seen her since we ran into a bunch of hyenas - she probably just went the opposite way I did after." He raised his paws and then spread them apart. "I thought lions always lived in biiig families. I didn't know they wandered too."
"Family is always important! They're the only family you have.... who else do you turn to if you need help?" He nodded at her question, though to be honest he didn't know where any jungles were in relation to this wide open savanna. "I can take you, but when we get there, you'd be the one who has to keep up with me!"
She giggled as he emitted a silly noise, shaking her head. Leopards were silly creatures, but she couldn't recall the last time she'd found herself so entertained before. Runi kept things from getting boring, and she was thankful for that. So thankful, in fact, that she'd let him have the honors of fetching her dinner yet again. Well, in a little while, at least, as she wasn't too terribly hungry just yet.
Flopping to one side, she sighed. "You're so silly, of course I can keep up with you. I'm a liiiion, remember? But it's okay, you're allowed to be forgetful, I'm nice like that!"
She paused, thinking back to her family. It had been many seasons since she'd seen any of them, and every now and then she'd find herself missing them dreadfully. She figured if groups of leopards traveled together, they must be similar to the prides she'd seen other lions join up in. Prides were for sissies, though. She didn't need one, not now when she had Runi by her side.
"I'm hungry," she announced at random, finally pushing herself to stand up on all four paws. "What shall we get for dinner?"
Runi's blue ears rolled. He grinned at her, tail flicking. Rolling back onto his stomach, he finally stood up and closed the short distance between himself and Tiombe, then collapsed back down again.
"Uhh..." Runi looked over at Tiombe, then up at the sky, where several birds were darting across the blue expanse. The herds had moved off a ways while they had hung around the watering hole, leaving their options limited today unless they wanted to give up their known water source in favor of the unknown. "Birds?"
"Hmmmmmmmm," she said aloud, tilting her head up to see what he was staring at. "Hmm hmm hmm. I guess birds would be okay, as long as you get enough for the both of us? I don't think sharing the same bird will do either of us any good!"
Grinning, she walked over to stare directly down at him, amused at how funny he looked upside down. Finding a little bit of energy left in her, she decided to use it wisely by teasing her new friend. "You know, for a leopard, you aren't so bad. Not as cool as a lion, but you're pretty good! Maybe you can teach me how to climb trees sometimes too?"
"Of course!" Runi had observed her during enough meals to get a general idea of how much a lion ate. Far more than even another leopard would. But it was doable, definitely, in exchange for her company (and protection!). He'd just have to put in some extra effort. He was starting to spin out a justification for why he continued to stay with the lioness. Protection, companionship, what was the difference? Runi was lonely. And he was bound to get himself killed if he just took off wildly into this unknown land, even to find his sister again.
"Really?" He beamed. He'd never expected to be as cool as a lion, not being one in the first place, so that was still good! Moving against the heavy heat, he made it back to the base of the tree. Runi tried to imagine Tiombe up in a tree, even as he scrambled back up it. "It's natural! Just like walking. You'll see."
It was too hot to think. He needed a nap.
