Sadiki watched the female cheetah from afar. She was pretty enough to look at, he supposed, and would compliment his looks; a pretty white with spots of pink and blue. She was alone, which was good. No cubs around, no mate around (he hoped); this was looking promising, very promising indeed. He paused for a moment, trying to decide the best way to go about approaching her. After sending up a swift prayer to the Gods, Sadiki made his move. It looked as if she was sleeping under the tree she rested beneath, and Sadiki cleared his throat as he moved closer. The last thing he wanted to do was to startle the poor thing, to send her running. It had taken him long enough to even FIND a female cheetah, let alone one that was this pretty.
Bubu had been dozing beneath a squat little poor excuse for a tree. It had been a long day, or had it? It really didn’t matter; she was content though a bit peckish, and was quite comfortable here beneath the tree. Her ears swiveled towards a soft sound, but she wasn’t quite ready to open her eyes yet. Bubu felt as if she’d not rested in years, and her bones ached with tiredness. With a soft sigh she continued her relaxation, ignoring the noise.
Sadiki frowned. He knew she’d heard him; he’d seen her ears twitch. Figuring that was enough recognition, Sadiki spoke. “Greetings. I am Sadiki.” He hoped she wouldn’t ignore him; his mood was a bit foul, and he refused to leave without this female. She was coming with him, conscious or not.
Bubu cracked an eye open. Bubu cracked her other eye open. She frowned softly, as if the sight of him displeased her. Really, she was frowning at the brightness of the sunshine. Why was it so unfriendly to her eyes? With a sigh she moved into a sitting position before turning her full cognizant attention to Sadiki. “Well, I’m thirsty.” She smacked her lips together as if it would help to moisten her dry mouth before looking at him expectantly.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Thirsty. Do you have a mate?” Sadiki was on a mission, bee lining straight to the point. So she had an odd name, no big deal. It didn’t really matter, one way or another. He prayed as hard as he could that she didn’t have a male that she was waiting for.
Confused, Bubu looked at him with a tilt of her head. And others called HER the crazy one? She snorted. “No. I am Bubu, and I am thirsty.” She ignored his other question, as there were far more important things for her to take care of at the moment. She rose to her feet and inhaled deeply as if by doing so she could smell where water was. When that didn’t work, she tilted her head to the side and a strained expression came across her features as if she were listening with every ounce of concentration she could muster.
Sadiki frowned. “Alright, Bubu. Do you have a mate?” His words were snappish, impatient.
“Shh!” Bubu hissed at him, growing quite cross with the fellow. “I’m listening for water.” She spoke to him as if he were entirely stupid. Rolling her eyes, the strained expression returned to her features. “It’s quiet today.”
Sadiki gave pause, watching her carefully. Listening for water? Did she expect it to talk to her? His eyes almost crossed and an inexplicable sense of dread overcame him. Really, it was just his luck to come across this ONE female during his weeks of travel, and she seemed to be completely out of her gourd. He squeezed his eyes shut as if willing her to become sane. With great trepidation he opened his eyes once more, peering at her only to be let down once again. Nope, she was still batty. “What’s quiet today?” he whispered in order to humor her.
Bubu glanced at him, a frown on her muzzle. “The water!” she spat, “Usually it’s loud, but today all I hear is rocks.” Rocks were annoying with their constant chatter, talking about the heat, the sun… constantly complaining about one thing or another. “The most annoying thing though,” she continued, “is clouds, but thankfully they aren’t around too often.”
Dazzled by her insanity, Sadiki breathed in deep before exhaling with a loud ‘whoosh’. Oh, this was just wonderful. He sighed with resignation. He would grin and bear it. She wouldn’t be hard to ignore, and the cubs would keep her busy once she’d birthed them. All he had to do was get her back to the pride, and at this rate that might take a while. He didn’t question her “special” ability; Sadiki was afraid that would only offend her, and he needed to get on her good side if he wanted her to agree to coming back to the pride.
“Water is quiet today,” she said again sadly, mournfully. “So thirsty.”
“Follow me. I know where there is water.” If this worked, it’d be so easy to keep her motivated. “And food.” Even better. He noticed the way she perked up at the mention of food and water, and to keep her attention on him he began walking away. Sadiki knew what he was doing was a terrible thing, but he was desperate to return home.
“I like food,” Bubu chatted, following directly behind Sadiki. “What’s your favorite, ‘Diki? I like antelope, or zebra. Flowers don’t taste good, and they scream when you eat them.” Flowers were terrible things, really. Useless, if you asked Bubu. “I hate flowers.”
“I like antelope and zebra, Bubu,” Sadiki humored her. His conscious was bothering him, though, so he decided to come clean to her. “Bubu, have you ever had cubs?” He hoped this would be an acceptable way to proposition her. If not, he would just lure her on with promises of food and water, conscience be damned.
“No! I would never eat cubs!” she looked horrified, stopping in her tracks to stare at him like a monster. “Have you ever had cubs? I hope you haven’t, Sadiki! That would just be terrible. Please say you haven’t.”
Sadiki gaped at her. “No! No, that’s not what I meant!”
Bubu looked pacified, “Good! Then… what did you mean.”
Sadiki’s mouth worked but no sound came out. It took him a few moments to regain his composure. “Never mind,” he groaned eventually. There would be another time, another place for that conversation. He hoped that by the time they got back to the pride she understood what he wanted from her. If not, he might need Kizuka to explain it, or one of the other females. “Just… follow me.”
