Jengo was proud of himself. Over the last few weeks of wandering around the ice caves, occasionally coming across parts that seemed close to the savannah, he had been teaching successfully Yukiko to follow him.

To Jengo, Yukiko was nothing more than a scientific experiment. He did not consider her his friend, and he was just glad she didn't consider him as food. Often she would gaze at him with a blank, predatory glare that made him wonder if she thought he was a giant rabbit or something. "Don't eat me!" He scolded her again. The Hyena had a firm grip on his arm but retracted her bite and muttered an apology. "Honestly, how many times do I have to teach you?! Lions, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and of course CHEETAHS are NOT food."

Yukiko huffed a bit of air out in frustration. Jengo didn't understand, she hadn't even known snow yetis like him had feelings until he found her.

"Let's go over it from the top." He suggested, pacing forward through the caves like he knew them as well as the back of his paw. Well, he did. Everything except where THE DARN EXIT WAS!! He didn't know where the way out was and he would frustrated scowl when he failed to find it. Yukiko simply gazed with curiosity at his predicament which would result in more frustration from Jengo.

Quite an unlikely pair, he had to admit. And as soon as they got out of the caves Jengo had plans to ditch Yukiko immediately. He didn't want something that wanted to eat everything they found around him. She was bad luck!

"Now, what is your name?"

She rolled her eyes but eventually responded. "Yukiko."

"Good! Now what is my name?"

"Jengo. And your a cheetah. And I'm a hyena. And your not food. I know all this!" She exclaimed.

"Now young lady I suggest you calm down. We aren't getting out of these caves any faster with that attitude you know!"

"We aren't getting out of these caves at all... You don't know how." Yukiko sighed. Jengo had lead them around in what felt like circles for about a month now. Or at least it seemed to feel like a month. What was a month again? She pondered asking Jengo this but decided against it. After all, he was in a bad sour grape of a mood. Yukiko was in a good mood, but Jengo, as she was quick to discover, was often stuck in this rut of being mean. He wasn’t bad and she never really took his words personally but Jengo had a habit of being unhappy and not nice around Yukiko. She wondered if he had any friends that weren’t herself.

"It's not like YOU know how to get out, do you?" Jengo retorted. His frustration with the whole mess of paths and caverns was wearing on his patience.

"..." The hyena did not respond, she had learned by remaining silent she had not given an answer yet. But it served more as a signal to Jengo that she was hiding something.

"Yukiko? You... You don't know right? ... RIGHT?!"

"I know how to find the green snow, if that's what your asking. It's warm there and odd looking." She had traveled to the green snow once, and it had been completely by accident. These caves were memories carved into her mind, things she had seen and navigated without need for words or sounds, she needed only food. Yukiko had tried to tell Jengo before, but he hadn't listened. The caves were void of food, she was hungry now and it was all Jengo's fault. The caves were void of food, she was hungry now and it was all Jengo's fault. Yukiko made a pouting face as she looked over in his direction.

Jengo halted in his movements. He was oblivious to Yukiko's death glare. "You... You know a way out.... You know a way out?! Why did you not tell me?!"

"It wasn't important." Yukiko adverted eye contact. Anger was not lost on her. Besides, her not-throat, not wait, that was, he called it her "belly". It rumbled and the drooling began once again. "Food... Food is important. Your not."

Jengo didn't know whether to feel hurt or disgusted by her comment. Food was more important then leaving a cave where Jengo was clearly miserable?! He forced himself to take a deep breath in and remember that Yukiko was a "savage beast" with no self control. She had known nothing and everything she could do now, including speak, was because Jengo had taught her.

"Is the exit far?" He asked. "-and just so you know the 'green snow' is in fact 'grass' and it is not cold to touch."

"Oh..." Yukiko seemed stunned by this realization. "Ok. Grass. I know where to get to where it lives."

"Yes." Jengo was pleased. "But is it far? From where we are in the cave?" She had often used "the snow hills are a months journey to it" so the cheetah had to be blunt and point out from where they stood was what he meant.

"... No, a moon passes by the time we reach it. Not very far away."

A moon? She meant a day? Good. He couldn't wait until he could smell fresh air again. "We'll walk through the night, lead the way!"

"Oh. Okay." Yukiko spun and began walking the way they had come. "But I'm hungry."

"Your fat enough as it is. You'll last one night!" It was the rudest thing he had ever said, yet Jengo knew that Yukiko didn't mind. If she did his leg would be off and half way through the cave in her foaming mouth of rage.

"Fine. This is the path." She began to lead him.

"At last!" He breathed out in relief. Walking behind Yukiko was calming, and the trek they had begun making resulted in little conversation. "When we get there, I'll teach you what to hunt." He said to her. Or else the next thing you knew there would be a deranged Hyena eating everything and everyone. Ugh. A nightmare created by him? Pass.

"Ok." Yukiko lead on.

"I promise. I won't back out on this." He was solidified in his opinion on the matter.

"... Ok." Yukiko replied.

"... Right." The eerie silence that followed Yukiko didn't seem to mind; however Jengo was not enjoy any second of it. The gods only knew he didn't live to talk; but Jengo was pleased to be in the company of another, even if he had already plotted carefully how he was to abandon her.

"Tell me what "prey" means." Yukiko voiced. She had been mauling over it and she didn't really understand the concept. Jengo sighed but did not hesitate to respond.

"Prey are things you eat. It means the same as 'food'. 'Meal' is after you have caught the prey and plan to eat it." He explained carefully so she could understand. The way the cheetah saw it he needed to be careful in how he translated things to Yukiko, or else she'd be gnawing on his leg again.

"Hmm... Alright." She seemed to get it now. The wheels of Yukiko's head were spinning as she went over the many words Jengo had been teaching her, and the many meanings they carried. It was all rather confusing, but she got the hang of it fast and thus could speak as well as she could because of it.

"And!" Jengo carried on. Yukiko's ears were going to fall off by the time he finished speaking, or at least until they got to the exit. Once Jengo was on a roll, he had a difficult time stopping.