Kimondo paced on the edge of the same watering hole he had found the strange leopard at earlier. Romano had been that stranger’s name; he had told Kimondo his identity after his throat was no longer in such a sore state as it had been originally. The pink manned lion was worried over this Romano. He saw the leopard as almost a not-quite-adult lion, since he had no mane and Kim had… Not really been around leopards before. He had heard of them! He had seen them, but he hadn’t met one prior to Romano showing up while he was pacing, similarly to as he was currently.
Kim sighed and thought on the subject at paw. He wasn’t a healer; he was a hunter, and a bad one at that. Well, Orlan told him he was a good hunter, and it made him feel good inside that he was in her eyes, but in his own he was a bad healer and a worse hunter. After all, it was hardly hunting when he simply stalked his prey until it could no longer summon the energy to run. If Kimondo thought of it like that, he wasn’t a good hunter but he was persistent. Persistence apparently paid off nicely as he had taken down a few big zebra in all his time he’d spent in the pridelands thus far. Still, persistent hunters didn’t help when the dying were asking to be saved. He was used to waiting out the process of suffering and watching his prey give up and die, not… Saving others from such a fate.
Kimondo stopped his pacing as a thought sprung into his mind. He didn’t really consider himself cruel or mean for “hunting” like he did. It was just survival. He was sure that a good hunter would be able to put food out of its misery so that suffering wasn’t an option. When Kimondo hunted suffering was the only option, for both hunter and the hunted. He would come back with a hare all tired and exhausted, and the hare’s last breath would have been due to overworking itself and in a haste having run too fast and not conserve the energy needed to keep escaping its persistent hunter tailing behind.
Even when he had lived with his family all Kimondo had known was be persistent and don’t let food out of sight. The desert was harsh and food was scarce, he’d spend days searching for the smallest scrap of food to feed his younger siblings and maybe, if lucky, himself as well. Any food he found was lean and had brittle bones, little meat, and was ready to heel over and die by the time Kim had chased it down. Here food was quick, plump and fed regularly. Chasing it required persistence and dedication, Kim possessed both.
Food was never to go to waste, in his opinion.
He had worked hard to care for the stranger Romano. Now, he watched as in the distance the leopard faded slowly out of his sight. He had decided to leave shortly after Kimondo had done his very best to fix the poor fellows wounds. So naturally the male lion had asked where he should be heading towards, to which the stranger had told him to the graveyard. The Elephant graveyard that was.
This, this was overall the entire reason for Kimondo’s pacing to begin with. The elephant graveyard was a place of death and yipping and snarls from hyenas that lived there. Kim had tried his best to plea with the stranger not to head to such a place. The hyenas had no mercy for lions; he imagined they’d have no mercy for leopards either.
Yet, he shouldn’t worry, right? After all the stranger had chosen to leave on his own free will, nothing Kimondo said could persuade him to stay in the pridelands even a day longer. It was no longer his duty to worry over him. Just as it had been his duty to escort the odd seer cheetah to the meeting at pride rock and then not worry about delivering him back to the borders upon leaving. Of course, Kim felt the cheetah would be safe and not die from being attacked by several mutts after purposely wandering into their territory as an intruder…
“ARGH.” He snarled and slashed at blades of grass in his frustration. No, NO, NO, NO. He had bigger worries then leopards who marched to their own deaths! His father had always told him to stop being so soft towards those he barely knew, this was him doing exactly that!
His thoughts could freely be occupied by more pleasant things now. Things Kim didn’t have to worry over but could daydream about happily. Things like girls. Girls like Orlan who seemed to think he was more impressive than even he felt he was. Girls who insisted on calling him a good hunter and who seemed to like being around the thoughtful oaf that was Kim.
Leopards didn’t belong in these thoughts. Injured Strangers who left without hesitation, before the wounds they bore were even properly healed did most certainly not belong in his thoughts. Neither did injured cheetahs who ranted and raved about the end of all days and who seemed to only possess a level of sanity best described as being “so-so”.
The lion sighed, this time in relief. He felt, empty. For a moment this feeling of being free seemed to wash over him. He felt happy and no longer had any worries. He even began to hum softly to himself and resisted the urge to skip as he walked away from the watering hole. Cheetahs and leopards no longer meant anything to him. He had no worries, he was worriless, carefree.
So carefree Kimondo was on a new mission he seemed to assign himself. He wanted to find Orlan and talk with her more. Maybe he’d go to the roguelands and catch something for lunch, bring it to her as a gift. Maybe she’d appreciate that. She always seemed so busy and stressed the least he could do for her was give her a meal.
Yes. Kimondo thought to himself. That was exactly what he was going to do. He’d go out and try and catch more food. He’d be persistent and bring down a nice prey beast to give to Orlan. The best part? No food would go to waste! After everything that had happened Kimondo was famished!
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