Well, this is going to be a problem. Anga thought to herself as she looked at the river some paces away. She had been able to cross easily before, first checking it for any crocodiles in there, determining there weren’t and being able to cross over. She had crossed because she was looking for a possible living space for a while, or at least one where she wouldn’t be in much danger.
Unfortunately she hadn’t found any and had decided to go back to her current spot, which was across the river. But now she was stuck. During her search a herd of hippos were crossing through. Well, that wasn’t exactly right, it was more like they had gathered there and were quite a large group so it would be hard to even go around them at this point. And she couldn’t take them all on her own.

Nothing! He couldn’t find anything! He could find no prey! Why was that? Aldo had been searching for hours now, only taking a few quick breaks to get out of the sun and into the shady spot of a tree. Unfortunately though his stomach was driving him crazy at this point. He hadn’t hunted for a while and really needed to get a meal in. Unfortunately the area he had wandered into didn’t seem to have any prey whatsoever. Either there was something wrong with this place or it was just barren.
It annoyed him to no end and he had decided to cross the river. Unfortunately though there was a large group of hippos currently enjoying the part he had needed to cross and he saw no end in sight when it came to the group. He did notice however a light-colored female lioness looking at the group on the same side as he. Looked like she had the same problem.

Anga sighed as she tried to figure out a way to get past the hippos. She knew of lions and others that had been killed by hippos, just by accidentally angering them. She of course wanted to avoid this outcome, but she also didn’t want to have to walk a couple of miles down either side of the river, hoping to come at some point where there were no hippos or other risks in the water.
She looked around again, spotting a mostly blue leopard with some sort of pattern on him. Interesting, though she knew she had an interesting pelt on herself. He looked at a loss. It seemed he had the same problem.
She decided that together, they might be able to come up with something, that is, if he was willing to accept. She gathered her courage and headed over to him. Finally getting within range she spoke. “Well, it looks like we have quite a problem here on our paws.” She said to him, smiling.

Aldo saw the lioness coming towards him, though since her pace looked relaxed and slow, he believed he was in no danger of being attacked. Of course, you would have to be pretty silly to try and start a fight next to a herd of hippos. She came over to him, smiling he could see, and pretty much told him what he had already thought. He nodded in return. “Yes… this is quite the problem.” He couldn’t really say much else, because what was there to say? “Is there a reason you came over here?” He knew she probably didn’t talk to him just to sit there and chat.

Well, he got straight to the point didn’t he? No friendly chatting from this leopard! She rolled her eyes a bit, still smiling though. She thought he was kind of silly. No need to be so serious. Though perhaps he was in a hurry. “Well, I was thinking that we could work together and get past these hippos if we do it correctly. Neither of us wants to go walk around the river for who knows how long just to find a way across.” She thought it was ridiculous that the hippos were even here. From what she could see, this was the smallest part of the river. She looked back at them, and then to the leopard again. “I say we try to distract them somehow.”

Well, the lioness was right, it would probably be better to work together, even if it was just for a bit. Though he wasn’t sure how they would distract the fat, pink filled herd. If anything, they would have to find a spot that didn’t have as many hippos and try to distract any hippos that were there. “Well, we can try to find a less populated spot and one of us distracts the hippos. I don’t know how, maybe by trying to intimidate them or swiping at them and running away or what have you, and then one of us swims to the other side.” Of course, this would depend on if he could trust the lioness. He wasn’t a very trusting leopard after all.

Anga thought about it. That was probably the best way. But who would be the one to distract first and the first one to swim? Because the second one would have to try to get the hippos’ attention again and distract them somehow too. “Well… how about you distract them first. I’ll be the next distraction.

Aldo wasn’t sure if he could trust the lioness though. He gave her a side eye. “Oh, and how do I know you won’t just bolt once you get to the other side?”

It was a good question, though unnecessary. Anga would never do something like abandon someone she had promised to help. That was just cruel. “I would never do anything like that, honestly. I swear on the word of my sisters that I do not break my promises when it comes to helping others. I’ve practically had to help raise them since we were born, I won’t hesitate to help someone else.”

Well… she looked serious enough. Aldo sighed. Well if she did run off that didn’t necessarily mean he would still be in danger. He would still just be extremely hungry and have to find another part of the river to cross. “All right, fine. I’ll help you. Now, I was thinking that we could…”