The day was warm and bright, with clouds of soft and puffy white squiggling across the sky way, way up high. Giggling, the little cheetah cub bounced through the tall waving grasses. She bounced because, if she did not bounce, she could not see over the tops of the grass. And she wanted to see, at least a little. Her mother would probably worry if she was out of her sight anyway. At least she wasn’t going to be out of sight for long. Or even very out of sight. But they were having a rest time right now, and Sayan wanted to go and find those flowers they’d seen earlier. The flowers had been very pretty. She wanted to play with them. And bring some back for mommy. Mommy would like flowers. Right?
Giggling happily, the cub wobbled before pouncing at a pebble, her tail waving giddily in the air behind her. Flowers flowers flowers… flowers for Sayan to play with, flowers for mommy presents. Flowers were fun fun fun, oh yes yes yes~ Say giggled again, marching right up to one of the blooms and planting her little bottom in the dirt to stare at it. Yellow. She liked yellow. Yellow flowers were pretty. But pink ones were too. And blue ones. And red ones. And purple ones. Flowers were all colors, and they were such nice things to look at. And to smell. They smelled nice too. Say purred softly as she rubbed her face through the blossoms, sneezing briefly when a leaf tickled her nose.
Mommy would be happy to see them. She would give them to mommy as a present and then maybe give some to her sisters. Her brothers wouldn’t like them though, or she didn’t think they would. But maybe she’d give some to her brothers too. Maybe. If they wanted.
”Flowers flowers flowers…” she sing-songed, batting at some of the fallen petals before realizing that the sun had gone away. Well, only a little. So then it was a shadow? Curious, the cheetah cub looked up… and then froze. A feline loomed over her. A lion. Lioness, there was no mane. But it was a really, really, really big lioness. Uttering a tiny ’meep’ of fear, Sayan just lay flat where she was, staring up at the stranger. Where was mommy?
”It’s alright little one,” the lioness soothed, muscle rippling beneath her pink and brown splotched hide as she crouched. Now she looked smaller and less scary, though Say did realize that she was still the same size. It was still comforting to not see it though. ”I like flowers too,” the stranger explained with a smile, and the little cub’s ears lifted from where fear had flattened them against her skull. Nice. The stranger seemed nice.
”…hi…” Sayan offered in a tiny voice after a few moments of staring uncertainly. The lioness’ smile grew.
”Hello,” she replied, crossing her massive forepaws and resting her chin upon them. Her size seemed to shrink even further, much to Say’s relief. ”My name is In’ta. What’s your name?” she asked, and her voice was just as kind and warm and inviting as her soft pink eyes. Pink was a nice color really. Sayan liked the color pink.
”Say,” she answered after a moment, still a little cowed by the big lioness.
”Say what?” In’ta asked, tilting her head in some confusion. She wasn’t aware that it was the cub’s name, and with the way the little cheetahess had been acting so very shy…
”Sayan,” the cub added shyly, her tail curling nervously around her paws. ”I’m Sayan.” In’ta nodded, understanding at last, and started to say something before a small noise, apparently unnoticed by the cub, made her look up and over her shoulder. Her ears pricked alertly, her soft eyes narrowing into something that felt more like iron or steel for just a moment, before the soft look was back and she was smiling down at the cub.
”So…Sayan, what are you doing all by yourself?” the lioness asked softly, lowering her head once again to the cub’s level. She knew she was big and scary. She didn’t wish to frighten the little one, and it was clear already that she was making the poor dear nervous. It was her size, or maybe her mother had taught her to be wary of strangers. Both were good reasons. But being alone out here like this… it wasn’t safe. It very obviously, to In’ta at least, was not safe at the moment.
The young cub shuffled her paws in the dirt, watching the way the grass bent between her toes for a moment. ”I’m getting flowers for mommy,” she said finally, looking back up at the lioness as she did so. In’ta didn’t seem so bad. She was big, and the scars on her nose and ear were a little scary. But not that scary. She was nice. Sayan thought she might like the lion. Kind of. A little bit.
”Oh, I see.” In’ta sighed, her tail flicking back and forth for a moment as she lifted her head to look around. At this height almost all she could see was grass. ”And where is your mommy, Sayan?”
Where was mommy? Mommy was…mommy was… Sayan looked around, then, eyes widening in fear, stood up and looked around more. ”Mommy? Mommy?” the cub called plaintively, unable to see where her mother was through the tall grass. She was lost! Mommy was lost! And so were her brothers and sister and…and she had to find them! Tears welled in her eyes as she turned to look back up at the lioness. ”Lost…” Sayan sobbed miserably. She hadn’t meant to make them get lost! She’d only wanted to get flowers to give to her mommy. She only wanted to give mommy a present and make her smile! And now she was…was…lost!
”Shh, shh, it’s alright,” In’ta soothed hastily. Good that the cub was upset about it though. It meant her mother was still around here somewhere, that the cub, that this Sayan, would be so surprised to not see her. Straightening slowly, In’ta looked around. There were small indents in the grass where the cub had hopped through. She could follow the indents and bring the little one back to her mother. ”Come on, lets get you back to mommy then. What does she look like?”
”…brown,” Say sniffled, reaching to bend one of the flower stems. Well. She had come this far. It would be sad to go back without any of the flowers she’d come to get. Mommy would like…mommy would like… pink! Snapping her teeth around the stem, Sayan pulled the flower out of the ground, then turned and looked expectantly up at In’ta. Her experience with strangers was…this one lioness. And since nothing bad had happened, the innocent little cub thought nothing bad would happen.
It was just lucky she chose to trust In’ta and not a few certain others that could be found skulking about. Uttering a soft ’come on then’ the lioness gently scooped the cub up in her jaws, flower and all. Glancing sharply over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed when she fancied she caught a flash of red. Well. He wouldn’t be getting his claws on this cub! Her motions were swift, and when the little Sayan didn’t do more than utter another little ’meep’ when she was lifted, In’ta made the most of her size for speed.
Sayan’s childish bounds through the grass were devoured by In’ta leaping run, and though it had taken Say a while to get to the flowers, it only took In’ta a few moments to catch sight of a brown cheetahess. There were other cubs around the other feline, presumably Sayan’s siblings. In’ta slowed to a halt several feet away, gently lowering Sayan to the ground again. ”Your mommy is just ahead, why don’t you show her your present?” the lioness encouraged. Say looked up at the large feline, her eyes still large with awe and surprise before with a happy little squeak she turned to bound back though the grass. Sitting back on her haunches, In’ta smiled and lifted a paw to wave at the mother, just in case she’d been spotted with the cub. She did not wish to concern the female after all. But the cub was safely home, and that was what mattered. Her gaze followed the little cheetahess as she scrambled back into the sight of her mother, a look of triumph passing across her features.
One little one safely home. Take that evildoer, whoever he was. Turning, In’ta bared her fangs in a silent snarl in the direction she’d come from. It hadn’t been hard to catch sight of the stalker, but spotting his innocent little prey… well. She wasn’t trying to brag or anything, but In’ta was used to playing the heroine. And she was good at it too.
(Word Count: 1546)
