Kito walked along following a little cub. He was currently covered in filth. His yellow and orange fur was so dirty that they seemed more like a brown than anything else. He didn't know that the cub was a halucination, made up by his unstable mental state. It didn't matter to him whether it was real or not though. There was a single determination in him to follow the cub home. He needed to make sure it was safe. His focus on the cub hallucination also meant that he was not paying any attention to his surroundings. Little did he know that there was a stampeding herd of wildebeest coming right at him.
Niu had spotted an old wildebeest, moving slowly due to age and clearly unable to run very far from her. The only problem was that she was alone and the old one was with a huge herd. She could easily be trampled by them while chasing down that one single beest. Her stomach grumbled at her. She guessed she had to take the chance. It was better than starving any more. So now here she was, weaving between wildebeest as best she could as the stampede tried to get away from her. Damn, she lost sight of the old one. Her eyes looked around for it and landed on a creature that looked nothing like her prey. It was a lion! He was right in the path! She yelled out, "Watch out!" He didn't hear her. Weaving and running as fast as she could, she tackled him out of the way and just in time.
Kito didn't know what was happening. One moment he was following the cub, next thing he saw the ground was shaking, and then he felt something hit him. The air went out of him and he ended up looking up at the sun shining down at him between clouds. He blinked while trying to breathe. What happened? It took awhile for him to notice a pretty hyena pushing herself up next to him. Oh, a hyena. He shut his eyes tightly to make her go away. What if she tried to talk to him? Wait? Did he have to say something to her? Why were they both on the ground? "Don't worry!" It was out of his mouth before he knew it. He sure hoped that was what one would say in this situation.
Niu exhaled and inhaled slowly. She was lying on the ground next to the lion that she had tackled. Luckily she was a tough girl. Having to hit someone or something didn't hurt too bad. She slowly pushed herself back up onto her paws and shook out her mane. Dirt flew off and settled around her. She was just about to ask the lion if he was alright when yelled out. Had he known what she was going to ask? "Are you sure you're alright? I mean, I hit you pretty hard." She moved out of the way so he could get up. "You know, you should pay attention to your surroundings next time. That stampede could have killed you!"
Kito frowned with his paws up in the air still and his back on the ground. What was she talking about? There was no stampede. Nope, the ground began to shake while he was following that cub. He hoped the cub was alright. He looked up at the hyena again. She didn't seem scared of him. Maybe she didn't know that something was wrong with him yet. He should try to seem normal so he could leave. Kito didn't want to be around her long enough for her to be mean to him. "Kito is fine." He thought about what she said to him. "Are you alright?" There, he said something she said so it would be normal.
Niu smiled down at him. He seemed like he would be okay. After all, he was talking to her. She was worried that he didn't get up though. Could he not get up? "Kito, that must be your name. Can you get up?" Now that she had a good look at him, she noticed how filthy he was as if he didn't groom himself at all. That was weird considering the grooming habits of the cats she had met in her lifetime. Maybe she should inform him of how dirty he was. "I'm fine. I am Niu. I would also inform you of how very dirty you are. Perhaps a dip in some water would help to wash the dirt off." She didn't want to judge him but he was honestly the most dirty thing she had ever met.
He was starting to play with some flowers falling onto him with his paws when she asked him if he could get up. Well, of course he could but did he want to with all the pretty flowers he could play with. It seemed like she didn't even notice the soft blue and pink petals. Oh yes, he was pretending to be normal. She had gotten up, so he should too. He rolled over and stood up on his paws, a shy grin directed at Niu. That was her name he guessed. Dirty? No, he hadn't noticed. He sniffed himself and frowned. He really was dirty. "Water? Yes, yes, Kito needs some water." He nodded to her and then headed off in a random direction.
Niu was now certain there was something wrong with this lion. Maybe he hit his head one too many times or something. After all, he just agreed with her, referred to himself in third person, and then headed in the opposite direction of the nearest watering hole. She went after him despite her hungry stomach telling her otherwise. If he needed water, she'd make sure he got it. "Kito! Your going in the wrong direction." She stopped him by stepping in front of him. "Follow me, I'll take you to the watering hole. It's not far from here." She encouraged him with a smile. Slowly moving at first and then going at a nice steady pace once he started to follow her. When they arrived, she felt safe with leaving him there. "You'll be alright? I gotta go hunt for food now. You take care Kito." Niu left after a moment of silence from him.
Kito obediently followed after Niu when she pointed out his mistake. He felt so stupid. How was he supposed to know where the watering hole was? The last thing he remembered seeing was the cub and then her and then the flowers. Surely she would be mean to him now that she knew how stupid he was. It was a big surprise when she wasn't. Niu was a very nice hyena indeed. He simply nodded to her when she said she had to go. There was water now. What had he told her? That he was dirty, that's right. He should listen to her and clean himself. So he got into the water and swam around a bit before getting out to lick himself and dry.
