Dark brown paws sped over the African Savannah, carrying the cheetah across the land as fast as they could, dusting billowing behind as it was lifted from the cracked earth as he raced over it. the sun was rising just to its height, signalling to all those around that it was now the middle of the day. The cheetah, named Tasunke, was just returning from his mornings exercise. The cheetah, who was not the same as every cheetah, liked to exercise and keep in shape, so that his racing abilities were at their peak. Who or what he would need to use his running talents for were unknown, and quite possibly did not exist. None the less, the cheetah felt that he had to practice every day, because what if one day a challenger did arrive, and he was unable to conquer them? That was the thought that plagued him the most, losing at his beloved sport of running fast. He was sure that not one other could match his speed and agility, but just in case, he trained hard every single day.
His daily ritual usually consisted of the same things, though time he spent on each could vary slightly. The first thing he did as soon as he woke up was stretch. Tasunke always stretched, extending his legs, stretching the muscles out so that they would be warm and ready when he was to begin running. Once his stretching was complete, he usually spent most of the morning do so, the next step on the Cheetah's morning to do list was to take a quick warm up jog. It wasn't a far jog, just enough to get his heart pumping and blood moving. Once the jogging was done, then the fun stuff began. The cheetah had several courses planned in his mind, ones that he had created after searching near and far across the lands for good and challenging places to run. He would select one and off he would go, racing only himself, around the tracks and back to where he started.
Today's run had taken him quite far, as the Cheetah had decided to challenge himself, doubling his run by doing two tracks rather than one. Because of this, by the time he had returned to his starting position, Tasunke was quite worn out, and was breathing very heavily, his lungs drawing all the oxygen they could into his blood.
He smiled, it was the most challenging exercise he'd done yet, and perhaps, he thought after realizing just how sore his limbs were and just how hard he was breathing, that he should do it more often. For he was very fast at sprints, but long distance was something he'd never really bothered with, until now that is. Perhaps it would be good to build up fitness, after all, running long AND fast could come in very, very handily at times. The cheetah nodded, he would take more time to practice running long distances, not just doing short sprint training all the time.
Done with the morning exercise. the cheetah decided to take a break, and make his way down to his favorite water hole for some relaxation and water, not necessarily in that order. He'd seen a lot of places in his life as a rogue cheetah, though some were fleeting thanks to his tendency to run fast and not stop for anything, and he'd come across many water holes, though none quite like the one he was going to visit now. It seemed, that this water hole was almost always left alone, and there was nice amounts of shade, as well as sun, so he could pick and choose where he wanted to sit. There was also a small waterfall, making the water fresh and cool, something that he loved after a hard days running.
His dark brown paws plodded along the dirt, making his way to his favourite spot. Aha! There it was, and, like usual, it held no one else save for him and some bird. The cheetah smiled. It wasn't that he was anti-social, quite the opposite in fact, Tasunke loved nothing more than meeting others, and, if they were game, challenging them to a race or two (which he always won), but when it came time for some relaxation after his daily routine, the cheetah preferred to be left alone in peace, where he could catch his breath and let his energy return to him.
He made his way to the body of water, crystal clear and cool, and dipped his paws first into the inviting liquid, then, slid the rest of himself into the pool, until only his head remained above the water. Then, the cheetah took a quite breath and took his head under, letting the water wash over every part of him. A few moments later he emerged and sighed. There was no other feeling quite like letting the water cool you down after a hard, long run.
Once he'd cooled off, the cheetah decided to take to a nice spot in the sun. He didn't mind that he was wet, and that dirt would stick on his fur and cover his body, he just wanted to sit in the sun and dry off, and so he did, basking in its warmth, letting it relax and refresh him. The cheetah spent some time in the sun, waiting to dry, and once he did, he arose from his spot and shook his body, letting all the dirt, now dry, fall to the ground. With a flick of a tail, his early afternoons relaxation was done, and he mentally checked his list to see what he would be doing next.
Normally, after he'd done a morning run and rested, he'd do another in the afternoon, however, because of his run in the morning being twice its normal length, Tasunke was too tired to go out again, something he was slightly bitter about, and it cemented his reason to practice running long distance more. With his legs too tired to do any serious running, the cheetah still wanted to get some more exercise, so he reasoned that he could walk another one of his course, even if it wasn't running, it was still sort of practice... right?
Hi mind made up, the brown cheetah left his fond water hole behind and headed out, wondering which of his routes to walk for the afternoon. After thinking for a moment, he decided that he didn't want the walk to be too difficult, so he decided upon the first route he'd ever 'made' which was rather easy, and started walking that way.
Words: 1,109 according to Microsoft Word
