Dhavlen paced by his mountain. He had sent his two lakies out to find a pretty female that he could make his mate. Being the leader of a very small gang was very tiring and he felt that he deserved a cute mate. Usually there were lots of travelers, but lately they had been avoiding the area. He was getting impatient of waiting. Castor and Pollux always took their time, while he was stuck waiting. They should know that it annoyed him.
He climbed up on a large rock and rested there. Once he was comfortable he saw the two twin cheetahs running his way, without his soon to be mate. Oh now he was annoyed. He jumped off his rock gracefully. The twins, he noticed, were scratched up; their faces bleeding.
“About time you came back. Where is my mate? Don’t tell me that a girl gave you those.” He mocked them. He really needed to get some stronger friends. As much as he liked the twins, they were just so unreliable.
“No boss! These were given to us by a cheetah, but a really strong cheetah.” Castor, the bright orange lion said. “We think he could be a good addition to the gang! Not only is he super strong but he is also super fast. I could hardly keep up with him.”
“Interesting. Why did you get in a fight with him anyways?” Dhavlen asked. He was sure he knew the answer but he had to check. As he listened to them, he sat down.
“Well boss, we found this pretty leopard and we knew she was the one for you. That cheetah guy though got in the way, telling us to leave her alone. He said that he would beat us up if we didn’t stop. We figured that he was an idiot so we took him on.” Pollux was talking this time, his blue fur shining in the sun. He shook his head. “He was strong though boss, like Castor was saying. I couldn’t believe it. We had to go and tell you right away, before he beat us up.”
“I like the way he sounds, though I am not too found of the hero types. Perhaps this cheetah can be reasoned with. It would be nice to actually have someone I can count on.” As Dhavlen said this he rolled his eyes at the twins. “Leave me now. You should go heal your wounds. Tomorrow we will go out and find this cheetah and persuade him to join us.”
“Right boss.” The twins said at the same time. They headed toward a near by river.
Dhavlen made his way back to his rock. He started to groom himself. ‘Hm a new member for the gang. He should be fun to have around, though I’ll have to break his hero habit out of him. I can’t have one of those types in my group.’ He could just imagine the new cheetah always trying to protect those Dhavlen went after. How annoying would that be?
He had just finished cleaning himself when the twins came back. “Castor, Pollux, I am hungry. Why don’t you go find me a meal? Something nice and tender would do quite nicely.” Just talking about a fresh meal made his mouth water. The twins nodded and went on their way.
How nice it was to have others do all the difficult task. Of course if he had to he could go hunting. He remembered when he was a cub his father would make him go out all the time and bring him back meals. It wasn’t long till he became a perfect hunter. To bad it was his least favorite task.
Even if the new cheetah decided not to join them Dhavlen would make him. The twins told him that the cheetah was strong. He laughed to himself for a moment. Of course they didn’t realize how strong he was. Years of fighting for his life made him stronger than an average cheetah. This new cheetah was no match for him.
The twins brought him some fresh meat. He shared it with him, though he did give himself the biggest piece. Once he finished the sun was about to set. He went to his cave and rested next to his trinkets. There was a couple, strange jewelry that he kept. He enjoyed the way they looked on him.
As he slowly drifted off to sleep he thought about tomorrow. If he was lucky they would be getting two new members in their little group, the strong cheetah and his mate. He could hardly contain his excitement.
The next morning the sun woke him up as it shined into his cave. He slowly woke up. The morning wasn’t his favorite time of the day, far from it. In fact he completely hated the mornings. He trudged out of the cave. The twins were about to say good morning to him when he shot them a glare. They imminently shut up.
“Lets hurry and go find that cheetah. He better come with us because I am not in the mood to drag him with us.” He said angrily. He led the twins to the watering hole. Once they arrived all eyes were on them. It didn’t matter to him. All the creatures there should no that Dhavlen showing up meant something bad. It didn’t help that he had a scowl on his face. “Where is he?”
“I don’t see him around boss. Maybe he isn’t here yet.” Castor remarked looking around. “Oh but there is the leopardess from yesterday.” Castor pointed her out. Dhavlen made his way over to her.
“Excuse me darling, but I was wondering if you could tell me where my friend is? He is a cheetah. Yesterday he was with you and my other friends.” Dhavlen asked with the twins standing next to him. The leopardess looked from him to the twins back to him.
“He’s not here anymore. He left last night and he isn’t coming back.” She told him. “He also told me to tell you that if you want to go after him to head west. That is the direction he is going, not that you could catch him. I’ve never seen a cheetah as fast as him.”
She wasn’t lying, Dhavlen noted. He was an expert liar and could easily tell if someone was lying. “I guess we are also heading west. Darling, why don’t you wait here for us? I am sure I will have that heroic cheetah back here. Though, just to warn you, he will be part of my gang.”
The leopardess growled at him. “He wouldn’t join you. Unlike you he is sweet. He protected me even though we were complete strangers. So I would just forget about him and find someone else.”
An idea came to Dhavlen. “How much would you like to bet? I bet I can get him to join my little gang. If he does I want you to become my mate. If he doesn’t I will leave with my friends and never return here.”
“You promise?”
“Of course. I would never break a promise.”
“Alright, I agree.”
What a silly girl. She was going to lose the bet. “Come on boys. We have to go hunt down our new friend.”
WC: 1,243
