The sun was nearly at the top of the blue African sky that afternoon.

The golden savanna was splattered and dotted with dark spots.

Wildebeest herds.

They were moving through their migratory route, and everyone was talking about it. But Tariq didn't care who was hunting and when. He kept to himself, and so did they.

Right now, he was on one part of the savanna that was free of other predators like himself, leaving that part of the herd wide-open for attack. They were near water, and water meant chaos and death for them.

They seemed so focused on where they were going and what was ahead that the didn't seem entirely...there.

They were wide open for attack.

Mothers grew careless in their own focused worry that they hardly noticed their oblivious young scampering around their legs in play. And then away from their legs. And then away from the herd.

And then into Tariq's jaws.

Yes, that was his plan.

As he watched one choice young dance dizzily around and around, leaping anywhere but right beside its mother, Tariq began to form his definite attack plan.

He was huddled low amongst a clump of dark rocks and long grass, doing his best not to move or even breath.

Then all hell broke loose right in front of his horrified eyes.

Out of no where came the distinct roar of a leopardess. The herd scattered and raced forward, making the largest clouds of dust Tariq had ever seen.

The wildebeest were gone in a matter of split seconds, each one screaming cries of fear as they ran faster in the direction of their watery cross, deaf and blind to the ground beneath them.

All that seemed to matter to them was getting away from whatever had just roared at their heels.

And they succeeded.

But they also succeeded from getting away from Tariq. Which made him unhappy.

VERY. UNHAPPY.

WHO THE HELL DID THAT?

Just when he was about to jump up in a frenzy of rage and kill whomever was responsible, his legs felt weak and his lips parted when he recognized who it was.

Gogo.

Gogo was laughing and prancing and dancing through the herd's dust. She flopped down and rolled left and right in relatively the same spot, seeming to obtain pleasure from the dry filth.

She sighed and laughed and smiled and made little innocent sounds as she rolled, covering herself in the golden dust. Then she began singing.

But Tariq, after staring in complete and utter puzzlement, had had enough of the child-like female's insane games.

He approached her heavily, black bangs cutting into his vengeful gaze. He was upon the leopardess before she even realized he was there. His claws seized her by the throat and he pinned her down on the spot, giving her a taste of his anger and strength.

"YOU." he hissed, trying to seem more menacing to hide what he was really feeling: complete confusion.

"Why. Did. You. DO THAT?" he asked in a growl, bending his face down close to the female's, adding pressure to his grip on her neck.

Gogo choked and let out a half of a giggle, amber eyes blinking up at Tariq's pink ones.

"They were--!" she wheezed, unable to breath--well, mostly. She could breath a little, and a little was more than none, after all.

"They were--! Undead--! Um--!" she squeaked, losing both her words and her breath.

"I don't care WHAT they were or WHAT you were doing to them. You scared away MY kill, and now I'm so pissed off I feel like KILLING you, right here...right now..." he breathed murderously, placing his lips inches from the female's ear.

"Cut you open and bleed you, you freak of a female leopardess, right now." he seethed. But his momentum quickly died at the sight of the cub-like creature twitching in jello-like ripples under his grip.

Tariq released the female from his grip and placed his paw back down on the earth. He watched Gogo jump to a sitting position, gasp for breath and cough a bit. When she recovered, she offered him a hopeful smile.

Hopeful of what, Tariq couldn't say.

But he felt like running.

Or killing her.

Or both...

"Listen," he started haughtily, eyes half-lidded. He felt better that he had given the female a physical piece of his mind, finally, but he had an inkling she would spiral out of his control in a matter of seconds unless he could run her off now.

"I was in the middle of a hunt--"

"GOGO TOO~!" the leopardess exclaimed in an uproar of excitement. She jumped at the male and slapped his chest with her paws and bounced herself off of him. "HUNT WITH GOGO! We'll be a team! We can...beat them. Yeah! C'mon!" she chimed, bounding away.

Tariq was so confused that he needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

He wondered a strange thought--what the female would be like if she were someone's banu back at the Ukuucha'Wafalme.

But who would be her pad? Surely not him. But if her were, how would...no, never. Not even to be the sultan. He would never capture her. Not in a hundred years.

Why did a creature like her exist? For what purpose? He didn't understand.

She was a puzzle, and Tariq felt...that he would never be able to solve her.
"The undead gazelles!" she gasped, farther away from him. "They're running, but Gogo will get them, you'll see! C'mon, c'mon~!"

No...Tariq didn't think so.

Yeah, he'd just let her go...he wouldn't go after her. Never.

He'd let her go. Oh, gods above, if there were any...or just...sun...

He asked it to keep that female away from him for good.

As the lion walked away, he heard the distant sounds of giggling and the pounding of panicked wildebeest hooves.

He had a horrified feeling that sound would be stuck in his ears all night.