Nia frowned as she looked up at the night sky. “Why are we doing this?” She finally asked as she turned to look at the other leopardess lying next to her. Lalika was a sister of sorts from her childhood and so the leopardess was glad to be able to live close enough to come visit her at random, but sometimes she really had to wonder about their relationship. Both were basically complete opposites. She was a hunter while Lika was more of a pacifist who preferred treating wounds rather than inflicting them. So why did they get along so well?
It was probably because they rarely got to see each other anymore so there was not much time for arguments.
“Because I wanted to.” Lalika replied softly as she waved a paw towards the stars. “Haven’t you ever wanted to just stare back at the night sky? I love watching the stars. They’re really pretty.”
“I prefer to hunt under them rather than be lazy.”
“It’s not being lazy. We’re just relaxing.” Replied the lilac leopardess with a pout before she rolled over and stretched. “You know stars guide a lot of felines through the lands. Without them many would get lost.”
“They could just go and hope for the best.” Nia replied with a smile, “That’s always fun since you never know where you end up. It’s what I did.”
“It’s a wonder you’re still alive.” Retorted Lalika with a sigh, “You are always jumping into things without thinking it over first.”
“So?” Nia looked over at her, “It’s just how I am. You know that.”
“Unfortunately, I do.” Lalika laughed as the dark leopardess playfully pounced her. “Hey!” Both started to roll through the tall grasses and were soon laughing as they batted at each other.
Nia playfully bit her friend’s ear before pulling back, “We-We haven’t played around like this in forever.”
“We aren’t cubs anymore.” Lalika replied before rolling back over and slowly standing. “Not to mention that you have been gone so many years now.”
“True.” Nia sighed and turned, “How long do you think this will last?”
“What do you mean?”
The leopardess shrugged, “I don’t know. It seems that every time I settle somewhere, it’s only a matter of time before either I leave or something makes me leave again.”
“Maybe not this time.” Lalika looked at her friend with an encouraging smile, “You have such a nice family and this area is really peaceful.” She nudged Nia before started to move towards a stream, “So you might just stay longer than what you think.”
“Maybe.” The leopardess laughed before rising to join her friend. “Maybe I’ll just stick around to see what happens to you.”
Lalika shook her head, “I promise you that my life is far from interesting.”
“At the moment, but who knows?” Nia jumped into the stream and splashed her friend. “Doesn’t take much to change things up a bit.”
“Nia!” Growling Lalika started to chase the other leopardess through the cool waters. Laughing she dodged another splash before turning sharply and sending a wave towards Nia. “Take that!”
“Heh!” Nia dived and tackled Lalika, dragging both of them into the deeper part of the stream. Both splashed until they were too tired to really fight and rather both allowed the water to move them as they floated there. “Let me see them someday, Lika.”
“See who?” The lilac leopard looked over at her friend with a frown.
“Your family.” Nia laughed at her expression, “Oh, don’t look at me like that! One day you’ll have one. I know it.”
“I have a family.”
“Nope. I mean your own family; I want to see your cubs.” She closed her eyes and dipped lower into the water, “I bet they’ll be adorable little fluffs of fur.”
Lalika made a choked laughing noise in the back of her throat, “You’ll have to wait a long while for that to happen. You know I don’t plan on settling anytime soon.”
“You just haven’t met the right guy yet.” The dark leopardess commented before moving through the waters and towards the shore. “I should get going.”
“I’ll walk with you.” Lalika replied before heading for the shore as well.
“You sure? I know you hate walking so far out in the night.”
“It’s fine.” Lalika shook her head, “I’m an adult, Nia. Not some cub.” Water dripped from her fur and she sat and started to dry her fur.
“Alright.” Following Lalika’s lead the other leopardess started to dry her fur off. Her golden gaze looked over at her friend, “You certain? Really?”
“Why not? I need something to do. It’s been rather quiet around here lately without any patients to attend to.”
“If you say so.” Nia shrugged before getting up. “Come on then, Lalika.” Without warning or hesitation the leopardess started running through the grasses and Lalika had to push herself to just keep sight of the dark form running in front of her.
Frowning she kept her eyes glued to that dark blur. Leave it to Nia to make things troublesome. Though she smiled at the memories this brought. When they grew up both loved to race. Even though she hated being in the dark sometimes, Nia could drag her out at night for a good race through the Savannah. She normally won too, but Lalika didn’t mind. She just liked the feeling of the wind in her fur. It was almost as if she could fly in the dark.
Nia probably felt the same. Lalika smiled at the thought. Of course her friend did. That’s why she would never be part of a pride or coalition. Freedom was too important to the leopardess. Lalika shook her head. Not her though. Security came first, even if she was restrained. It was an impossible thought to imagine herself being as bold as Nia. Which talking about her…”Wait up!"Lalika yelled before pushing herself faster in order to catch up with her friend. One more step and she would reach her. Lalika laughed as she passed by. “Got you, Nia!”
Their race was back on.
