[Private] Initial Rivals

[SnowyCheetah]

Initial Rivals

AustralianChaos and SnowyCheetah

Characters--
Snowy: SnowyCheetah
Tanga: AustralianChaos
others to be added later on

Plot: Snowy and Tanga become stranded in a desert wasteland and, though initially hating each other, eventually become friends and start new lives in the Pridelands after surviving the desert.

______

A beautiful day in the frigid mountaintop community he lived in, Snowy was licking snow from his paws while basking in the sun. He'd finally managed to find peace in his life, and was enjoying it greatly among a group of snow leopards who had accepted him into their group.

Just as he was finished giving his paws a bath, Snowy felt a rumble. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. His and the snow leopards' fur was standing on end at the new, unfamiliar frequency eminating throughout the mountain. Just then, some rocks went flying as a small hole blew in the mountain, letting out a jet of steam. The rocks just missed Snowy. Then a few more holes blew, causing some of the rocks to hit some of the snow leopards. As Snowy ran to see if they were alright, he was struck in the head with a rock himself and knocked unconcious for a moment. When he woke, red-hot molten rock was oozing out of the holes and flowing down the mountain. The snow leopards were all panicking, snatching their cubs out of the way of the hot lava and dragging with them those who had been hit by rocks. Then there was a huge explosion as the top of the mountain blew off and a landslide followed. Snow and trees came hurdling down the mountain, most of the snow melting instantly upon contact with the lava. Rocks fell from the sky - giant ones. Snowy ran as fast as he could, watching in horror as snow leopards were killed right before his eyes by falling rocks as everyone ran from the landslide, and a plume of ash formed on the other side of the mountain. Or rather, dormant volcano now wide awake.

In the end, Snowy was the only survivor of the eruption, or so he thought. One cub survived as well but he wouldn't see him again for a long time. Snowy wept quietly, walking slowly away from the pile of rocks and rubble which contained the dead bodies of those who had accepted him and given him a new home and life.

As he was walking, he heard another weird noise. But it wasn't rumbling - more like an odd roar or growl that was constant and constanly changing pitch. Soon a square-shaped green thing came into view on the horizon. It was researchers on their way to investigate the volcano eruption. Snowy approached the land rover curiously only to be met by a tranquilizer dart shot by a man who saw a new, undiscovered feline species right before his very eyes. After feeling the sharp poke in his flank, the gray, web-footed cheetah fell asleep yet again.

When he woke, his paws and muzzle were tied tightly with ropes. He squirmed with all his might but couldn't manage any movement outside of his tail, ears and toes. The researchers watched in awe at the webbed skin between his digits, something they'd never seen before in a cheetah. He was on an airplane to a laboratory where he would be examined by a vet. ...or so was the plan, until later in the trip, a drunk co-pilot bumped the bound cat and caused him to slide right out the open side door of the plane, falling and eventually landing in sand with a soft thud. Looking up, Snowy saw only the bright sun in his eyes.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga wandered the barren, sandy wasteland, looking for his next meal.

His golden fur and black mane were matted and dirty from days worth of sand and dust getting lodged in it...his silvery underbelly faring little better. No matter how much the young lion bathed himself, he could not seem to shake the grit from his fur. His bright blue eyes were partially closed against the bright, burning sun as he raised his head, sniffing the air, searching for any sign of some animal he could hunt down for his next meal.

But rather than catching the scent of some animal in the barren wastelands, his ears twitched, shifting backwards as a distant droning sound reached his ears. He stopped, opening his eyes as he turned his ears, trying to locate the direction the sound was coming from. All his senses were on high alert, since he had never heard a sound quite like it before.

He eventually spotted what had to be one of the strangest things he had ever seen coming towards him. To Tanga, it was obviously a bird of some kind...but it's skin shone and reflected light, and it never flapped its wings, somehow managing to keep in the air despite that. And what was that whining sound it was making? Tanga's mind growled as he flattened his ears against his head, trying to bury them in his mane to drown out the sound as it grew louder.

Eventually, the shining bird-thing drifted past his position a short distance away, Tanga sitting as still as he could, trying not to attract attention. Out here in what was essentially a desert, there was nowhere he could hide, but his golden-yellow fur did offer him a small amount of camoflague, even if his mane ruined the effect. All he could do was sit back, and pray that his mane was mistaken for some sort of small shrub or something...the bird-thing was large, and Tanga was worried that it would be dangerous if it decided to turn it's attention on him.

But as the thing passed, Tanga saw something else, something much smaller, fall away from the creature, which Tanga assumed must have dropped it. The creature did not seem to notice, though, and continued to fly on with single-minded purpose, soon fading away into the distance. Tanga watched it go, before cautiously making his way towards the sand dune where he had seen the other creature fall. His curiosity and need for food demanded he inspect and find out what had just landed in what Tanga was realising would have to be his home for the foreseeable future. His fear and uncertainty, however, were holding him back, hence he made his approach slowly and silently...the exile by his former pride still raw in his memories.

As Tanga reached the top of the dune, he paused, his mane flaring defensively as he saw that the creature that had fallen out of the sky was another feline. But not one Tanga had ever seen before. It's gray fur, similar to Tanga's belly, covered it's whole body, but the markings spread across it suggested a cheetah of some kind...although one unlike any other Tanga had ever seen, although from his current distance, that was pretty much all he could make out.

Whatever it was, Tanga could see it was awake, even if it was not moving...this caused him to get defensive, knowing that another predator in such a barren area could be a huge problem, particularly if the strange cheetah before him decided that a lion was a fitting next meal. Without speaking, he continued to approach, keeping his guard up in case the cheetah moved suddenly.

[SnowyCheetah]

His paws and muzzle still tied, the strange-looking cheetah panicked as he was unable to get away from the strange creature who had approached him. He smelled strange and looked bigger than him, and looked hungry enough to eat a defenseless snow cheetah out of his habitat. He growled through clenched teeth and wriggled, trying in vain to roll away in the sand. He only managed to get sand in his nose, causing him to sneeze as he gave up his escape attempts and wriggled his paws slowly, his wrists and ankles sore from being tied so tightly for so long. How wonderful... first my home destroyed and now eaten alive. Snowy thought to himself, just waiting to feel the agonizing pain of Tanga's teeth biting into his gray-furred flank.

[AustralianChaos]

As Tanga approached, he noticed that the cheetah before him was bound and tied, his paws and muzzle tied down so he could barely move as he tried to struggle, obviously seeking an escape from his current predicament.

What...? Tanga was left confused. Who...or what...would bind a creature like that, and then leave it in the desert? In the end, despite his hunger, Tanga felt sympathetic towards the creature before him...this creature was obviously not in a land it belonged in, and Tanga knew, from painful experience, what it was like to be driven from your own home.

Any thoughts of food vanished from Tanga's mind...for the moment at least...as he cautiously took a few more steps towards the cheetah. The last few days Tanga had suffered out in this desert had been lonely...maybe this cheetah could befriend him...maybe help him find a land outside this desert where he could settle.

But he was still worried, and unsure of the cheetah's intentions, and so decided to test them before deciding whether or not to release this new addition to the desert. "Who are you?" he asked, his tone nervous and defensive. Tanga was small for a lion, and having grown up in a pride, his fighting skills were not the best. If it came down to a fight, Tanga was far from sure of his ability to survive.

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy frowned and groaned muffledly as Tanga asked his identity. Fighting to open his muzzle just a little, his lips slid slowly and painfully underneath the tight, rough ropes binding his muzzle. Soon his teeth were exposed, and he said Sno-eh, unable to pronounce all the sounds of his name with his lips unable to move freely enough. He was quite angry at the lion for no particular reason, but was going to cooperate for now, seeing no other option.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga realised the stupidity of asking the creature a question while his muzzle was still bound as he got a half-formed word as a response. He stepped even closer to the gray cheetah, moving his head low so he could get closer. He unsheathed the claws on his right forepaw, speaking at the same time to stop the creature before him struggling and making this more difficult. "Take it easy...I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to cut the bonds around your mouth, okay?"

Tanga briefly considered removing the bonds holding the cheetah's paws together as well, but decided it was not worth the risk to his safety as he slowly cut through the ropes around the cheetah's muzzle, breaking through after a few moments. "Now, what did you say your name was? And where are you from?" he asked, his curiosity rising to the forefront once more, leaving him eager to learn more about the cheetah before him.

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy rubbed his bound forepaws on his sore muzzle as it was unbound. My name is Snowy. he said, still getting used to having free-moving lips again, I am... a rogue I guess. My home is destroyed and doesn't matter anymore. biting his words and speaking a bit angrily, Snowy finished explaining himself to the relatively small lion. Biting his front paws free from the ropes and using his claws to free his hind feet, the cheetah got up and stood awkwardly in the sand. Ugh! he exclaimed in disgust, lifting a forepaw out of the strange ground covering and spreading the webbed toes, sand falling out from between them. His sensitive webs already itched from the light yellow grains.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was taken back by Snowy's rather snippy tone, actually taking a few steps back when Snowy finished freeing himself, his mane insitnctively flaring defensively once more, unsure of what kind of threat Snowy possessed.

But he sympathised with Snowy's plight of being a rogue. "I guess I'm a rogue, too...my home pride turned me out. According their lousy 'traditions', I'm not supposed to hang around now my mane's grown out!" he spoke with a bitterness that was not directed at Snowy, even if the cheetah was a little moody. Not that he could be blamed, considering what he said he had gone through. but Tanga hated the fact that he could not see his parents, his friends...or even Kiburi, a young lioness he had grown rather close to, ever again...all because of some tradition he did not understand! If he ever set foot in his homeland ever again, his life was apparantly forfeit.

But when Snowy excalimed in disgust, raising a paw out of the sand and revealing his webbed paws, Tanga could not help but stare in amazement. "What are you? You look like some kind of cheetah...but I've never seen one like you before!"

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy licked his webs clean but, upon setting his paw down again, found that the sand got between his toes again and was doing the same with his other three paws. Lying on his back, he licked his paws clean once more and kept them off the ground. I am a snow cheetah. In all my life I've only heard of one other in the world... Beside my parents. Snowy said, resting his heels in the sand and being careful not to let his toes touch it again. Why all the questions?

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was once again taken back by the snow cheetah's attitude. "Easy, Snowy...I'm just curious, that's all!" he said defensively. "I've never seen someone quite like you before, that's all!" his voice became a little softer and sadder. "I've never really met anyone outside my own pride, really...we were never allowed to let any outsiders visit...or even meet them...for any reason."

Tanga's face once again contorted in irritation at the viciously strict traditions his home pride adhered to. He had never really liked the traditions, but his disliked had turned to full-blown disillusionment when he had, against his pride's wishes, managed to secretly meet with a lion from outside the pride, even if it was only the once. This lion had told him of a distant land, with a fairer system of laws and traditions, where the land was always abundant with food and water.

The only reason Tanga had not left there and then was because of his parents...and Kiburi. But when he was exiled from his pride, he had been forced out into this desert...and without any idea of where this utopia the lion had described was...he had no idea where to go.