Anga swatted his tail through the tips of the grass. The pods that littered the tops of the larger grass were bashed open and sprayed their seeds. Anga’s tail whipped back and forth, sending the seeds twirling through the air. He was slowly making his way back to the lake. It was where he often spent his time. In between hunting and napping, Anga spent little time away from the lake. It drew him to it. Maybe it was the echoes of blue in his own pelt that reflected the power the lake had over him. Which was kind of weird…He never was attached to one thing for too long. He grew up as a rogue and never had permanent dwellings. As a cub, Anga was born to a single mother. He didn’t have any siblings and never met his father. His mother was never stern with him. Maybe that’s why he was chill. Anga shrugged at the thought. He thought he turned out ok. When he was old enough, his mother separated herself from him. She stuck to this tradition that male lions needed to leave their mother once they were old enough to mate. It hurt at first. Not necessarily because he was leaving his mother, but because he would be alone. His mother wasn’t very affectionate, though she was never mean. If anything, she was indifferent to motherhood. She rather Anga do his own thing, only stepping in when Anga couldn’t provide for himself. Sometimes, he felt like a burden. Maybe his mother’s young fling didn’t work out as she expected. He guessed ‘raising’ a cub wasn’t something on his mother’s to-do list. Nevertheless, she provided for him when he needed her and he was happy. Things got harder as he grew up. As soon as his mane on his chest reached his shoulders, his mother told him to leave. Well, she didn’t tell him anything really. Just, one day she left. Anga suspected his mother would leave him. For weeks she kept distancing herself from him. Not that they were close anyway.
Anga reveled in his new freedom. He was sad at first, but felt a burden lift off his shoulders. He could do anything he wanted-- never worrying about anybody, but himself. As Anga was growing up still, he had a young cub’s energy. He explored daily and slept often. No need to rush things. He had the rest of his life to do stuff. Though, he didn’t like to be bored for too long. A good nap could take care of most things, but he couldn’t nap forever. Anga poked around new places. Sometimes he’d find new animals. He and his mother would sometimes run into a rogue, but they often stayed away from others. Anga wasn’t quite sure why, but maybe it was her way of protecting him. Either way, Anga didn’t have very good social skills. His laid back demeanor seemed to piss others off. He found that others were too stressed out about everything. Some bigger lions took it upon themselves to teach him a lesson. Anga wasn’t a fighter and would high-tail it out of there. It wasn’t worth getting beat up over some territory dispute. Besides, the world was large and he can find somewhere else more awesome to rest on.
When Anga’s full mane grew in he easily doubled his size. He wasn’t fat, just bigger. The young Anga was still there, just covered in adult muscle and fat. Well, probably more fat than muscle. By other lion standards, he was average. He moved around just enough to stay in some-what shape. He’d tell himself he was allergic to excise. Others called him lazy. He was just economical with his energy. He didn’t enjoy moving just to move. There needed to be some kind of reward at the end, or else, why move? His favorite reward was food. Oh, yeah. He loved to eat. Though, since he was by himself, his prey was limited to sick animals or smaller ones. A couple times he’s feasted on some other animal’s left over kill. Anga wasn’t picky where he got his food. Growing up mostly alone taught him not to be picky. Though, he drew the line at gross things, like large maggots.
Though, as he was wandering through the savanna, the terrain gave way to green grass, which grew thicker the further he travelled. The landscape changed from dry, cracked ground, to lush grass plains. He didn’t know it, but he was making his way to the lake. This lake was massive and almost seemed like the sea. Anga visited the sea once in his travels, but never stayed too long. He heard stories of some feisty pirates that roamed the area. He only stopped long enough to bask in the rising sun before turning back to the main land. The lake held a different power. I seemed to go on forever and Anga couldn’t make out the other side. If he didn’t know any better, he would have guessed it was the other side of the sea, but, he knew through others that a lake was in the area.
While at the lake, he met a female named Koko. She was pretty serious by Anga’s standards. Of course, everybody was more serious than Anga. He chuckled at the memory. Anga always seemed to pride himself in making others laugh. There were too many tragic things in the world for people to be so serious all the time. Laughter was good for you, plus if you were happy, it kept diseases away. At least, that’s what Anga felt like. No need to be so uptight.
So, Anga wadded through the shallow end of the lake. He stopped when the water reached his ankles. His eyes scanned the horizon of the lake and watched the light flicker on its surface. It really was beautiful. Anga let out a deep sigh. He then roared and took one giant leap, slashing into the deep end. He re-surfaced and barked a throaty laugh. Flipping over onto his back, he floated down the current. Yeah, no more serious thoughts~ no need for him to get all serious. It would break his chill rule. Anga swayed his tail back and forth in the water, guiding him through the lake.
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