Tlanextli took a deep breath of air. She finally made it. Her thoughts were on the journey to get here.
When she was a pup, her gran told her all sorts of stories about the land beyond the trees. She was fascinated by the stories. The pack had always discouraged stories about stories that were about the land beyond the trees, but Tlanextli would always insist on hearing the stories and her gran could never say no to her.
Around the time she became an adult, Tlanextli decided that it was time to make a venture through the trees and see what the other side was like. Her family argued that she should not leave the pack, that if she left she might not be allowed back in. At the time, Tlanextli thought the risk was worth it.
And now she was here. Behind her was the trees that her pack called home. In front of her was small rolling hills, covered by cream colored grass with patches of green. There were trees, but scattered around. These trees couldn't provide shelter like her old home, just protection from the sun.
She continued to go forward. Her gran was one of the few who had lived outside the trees before joining the pack. The stories she told were about areas far from the trees and could take a number of days to reach. Tlanextli took a deep breath in and increased her speed, ready so be apart of the stories her gran told her about.
It was a couple days until she arrived at her first stop.It was at a small pond near a hill side. The pond was surrounded by strange looking felines. Her gran had told her about mysterious lions, who occasionally were kind toward wild dogs and about hyenas who would cackle at night after stealing offspring of other creatures. Gran told her that hyenas were the one species you couldn't trust. The one she was looking forward to seeing the most were elephants. Gran had one had one experience with them. In the story, she help an elephant get a rock removed from its' foot.
She leaned down to get a drink of water. Right when she did so, she heard a commotion across the pond. There was a large feline creature growling at all the others who were trying to relax. Everyone around him gave him plenty of room. As she looked at his features, she realized that he must be a lion with his large, messy mane.
“What a brute right?” A quiet voice next to her said. She looked over and saw a light colored creature that looked somewhat like a dog, but had strange features. Despite trying, she could not hide the surprise on her face. She guessed that this was one of the hyenas her gran warned her about.
“Aw yes,” she responded nervously. She wasn't even sure where the hyena came from. He was so quiet.
“He's always like that. Most of us that live in this area avoid him around this time. He's a crappy hunter and usually comes here after a failed attempt.” The hyena let out a snort. “Though it is better then when he actually does manage to catch something. Spends the whole time bragging about how he is the greatest hunter in the area.”
It was a bit of a disappointment that the first lion she ran into was such a bully, but she was sure that there would be others that were kinder.
“Is this your first time in the area?” the hyena asked.
It was strange that he was giving her so much attention, Tlanextli thought. She kept reminding herself what her gran said about hyenas, however this hyena did not seem cruel at all. Just informative.
“Yep! First time away from my pack.” she explained. “So far it has been a peaceful, but boring trip.”
The hyena let out another laugh. “If you stay here long enough, I am sure there will be some excitement. The lion over there, Obiajulu, he gets into fights all the time. Had a scuffle with me not that long ago. He's an idiot, but at least he is entertaining.”
“You fought a lion? Are you okay?” She looked over him not seeing any major wounds, just a couple small scratches and scars.
“Hm, yeah. Obiajulu is the type who likes to be feared, but can't do any real harm to anyone. If he were to actually hurt one of us, I am sure that he would be chased out of the area.” He glanced at her and grinned. “If he bothers you, just bare your teeth and tell him your buddy Mirza's got your back.”
“Mirza?”
“I'm Mirza.” He responded.
“Oh I am Tlanextli.”
“Want me to show you around Tlanextli? We don't usually get dogs in this area, other than Inhliziyo Iculo. She's been around here though since she was a pup.” Mirza explained.
Tlanextli's ears perked up. Another wild dog? She knew that there must be some wild dogs outside the pack, she just assumed that most would belong to other packs and not just hanging out with hyenas and lions. “I would love to look around.”
Mirza grinned. “Follow me,” he said, leading her away from the pond. They did not have to go very far to get to the dens. “This is where our merry little group sleeps. Some like to share dens, others like being alone. You are more then welcome to stay in one if you decide to rest here for the night.”
There was a good number of dens dug into the hill side ranging from different sizes. She noticed some already sound asleep in the den.
“Over here is where we keep the food,” he said, heading in a different direction. She saw the meat and felt her mouth water. “We ask that anyone that takes food, replaces it as soon as they can, that way we are always stocked.”
Tlanextli nodded, her eyes still glued to the meat as they passed it. Later she would have to snag a bite.
“AND finally we have the steam and mud piles that the young and young of heart like to play in.” Mirza said, as he walked down a small hill. Compared to the pond, it was much louder here. She saw some cubs playing around in the water, playing tag. The site of the cubs made her a tad homesick, missing the pups from her pack. They walked further upstream. “So Tlanextli what do you think of this place?”
Tlanextli thought for a moment. The place was filled with life, with a bunch of different creatures. “In a lot of ways, it reminds me of my home. But with more variety. You are the first hyena I have ever met. Before today I had never even seen a feline and now I've seen quite a few.” And Mirza had changed her original thoughts on hyenas, at least a little. She wasn't sure if her gran was wrong about hyenas or if she had just met one of the only nice ones. While she was here she would have to do some investigating, she thought.
“I promise that you'll see some exciting stuff,” he said. “Tonight I'll introduce you to Inhliziyo Iculo. She'll be glad to have another wild dog to chat with. Heads up though, she tends to be loud. Now why don't we get a bite to eat and you can tell me more about your pack and I'll share some more secrets about this place, like the best places to hide when everyone's being annoying.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said as they headed back.
WC: 1,301
