The waterfall painted Cheetah girl had not left the area, as the dark green lioness had instructed. In fact, she had no intention of getting out of there until she was done exploring the place. She knew the other wouldn’t really hurt her, and even if the lioness tried, Poromoko was damn fast. She could out run a lioness any day of the week, particularly if she was only interested in chasing as far as her concept of ‘the land she owns’ went. Anyway, Poromoko was laid back with just about everything, and this would be no different. She just wanted to explore. What was the harm in that?
There was another lioness living in this small spot of forested land, a tiny river feeding into a fair sized lake to keep the area lush. She had only recently come to stay here, and was surprised to find a lioness interested in helping her, nursing her back to health. Hitilafu had been walking too far, for too long, and had worn herself to the bone. It made it worse that she hadn’t been the best hunter, her father only teaching her through words rather than letting her risk practicing, so when it came time to it she had failed more than she was willing to admit. She hadn’t eaten very well, though she at least managed to keep herself alive.
Thin, but alive.
Poromoko had learned in her encounter with the green lioness that there was another one living here. Not green, maybe, but that didn’t really matter, did it? She had a waterfall on her pelt, after all. Her son? He looked more like a beach. She padded her way with a light heart into the forest, not heeding Kil’s insistence that this was not a place for her. She had, after all, gone somewhere else to sleep for the night. She even hunted away from this particular patch of trees and grass. She just happened to be back here now, exploring. What was the harm in that? She was not upsetting anything, and she would leave before anyone could care.
No harm done.
Hit heard something in the bushes and imagined the rustling to be Kil. She smiled, curling her tail and flicking it happily. Kil was so nice to her, helping her to hunt now that she was getting stronger, and bringing her food when she had been weak. She was very attentive and sweet, like a mother Hit had never known. She purred at the thought, glad to have a parental figure in her life that she wasn’t scared of. Though, she wouldn’t tell Kil that directly, as it would probably upset her to know that she was not intimidating. She tried so hard to be tough, to be aloof and unapproachable, but Hit had managed to get into her heart, and she suspected the other was lonelier than she let on.
“Oh!”
Hit looked surprised when what emerged from the bush was not a lioness, much less Kil, but in fact a cheetah. With a very strange pelt. The young lioness stood, watching the other in wonder. Poro, grinning ear to ear, tilted her head at the lioness. She swished her tail, which was much thicker than the lion had, sitting down in front of Hit and curling her tail around her own legs. Hit watched, then sat down and tried to do the same, but it didn’t work out too well. Or at least it didn’t look as pretty, as far as Hit was concerned. But then, she hadn’t seen many cheetah before, and having one up close was fascinating.
“Hello! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. I mean, I did see you there. Why did I say that? I meant I didn’t expect it to be you, and not Kil. I mean. I didn’t expect it to not be Kil, since I don’t know anyone else around here who it could be. So I wasn’t expecting you, or anyone else, at all…” Hit babbled, frowning and wondering why she was so nervous. Maybe she thought other species were dangerous. She was uncomfortable around lions, after all, and she was one. She knew them. So being around something she didn’t know well, unsure of what it was capable of or if it was friendly, put her on edge to say the least.
Poro purred, almost chirping, liking the look of the lioness and her brown, splotched fur. A bit on the thin side, but she supposed she was being taken care of now. She moved a bit closer, swishing her tail to brush it against the lioness’ legs. It made her pick up her paw, but she was curious. Poro grinned. She was a flirtatious thing, and it didn’t really bother her as to who or what she was flirting with. Sometimes she did it just to tease, but mostly she just honestly liked other creatures, and didn’t mean it in a ‘come on, baby’ kind of way.
Though, sometimes she did mean it that way.
“Hello, darling,” she said jovially, smiling and tilting her head, “do you live here with that cranky old thing, then? I mean, you know her name. I met her yesterday. Rude, I think, but I guess she doesn’t like strangers like me. Which is totally fine, I’m not going to stay here long. I never stay anywhere long. You, however, look like you could do with sticking some place for a bit while. Hell, you’re as thin as I am, or close to it, and I know lions are not supposed to be that thin.” She was only extending her talking to make Hit feel more comfortable about babbling so goofily before. Anyway, it had been cute.
Hit smiled, sensing Poro’s plan.
“I do. She’s… she’s my guardian, of sorts. She’s taking care of me and I’m indebted to her because of it. She really isn’t as cranky or old as you might think, I swear. She’s kind. Anyway, my name is Hitilafu. What’s yours?”
“Poromoko.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Poromoko,” Hit smiled, watching her, leaning slightly away from how close Poro had gotten, simply because she wasn’t used to anyone sitting in her personal space like that. At least, not a stranger. But she didn’t get up and move, as she thought it would be rude. “Are you going to be here long?”
Poro shook her head, standing at that cue, “not at all. I was just passing through. Mostly because if your Kil catches me here, she’ll kill me. I thought there was someone else living her, and I just wanted to find out who it was. You two take care of each other, hmm? A child should always take care of their parent, blood or not.” She smiled, nodding her head and turning to pad off. Hit looked a bit dazed, but smiled and nodded, calling out to the cheetah as she made to slip into the bushes.
“I will!”
(Word Count: 1167 in Word.)
