[Private] Initial Rivals

[SnowyCheetah]

Just leave me alone, I've had a very very very bad day ok?! Snowy said, now more hostile than ever toward the exiled lion. He angrily rose to his paws and, despite his irritated webbed toes, trudged off through the sand. He was soon halted by the intense heat. Having had no food or water recently, and having a thick coat which locked in the abundant heat of the desert, he soon found himself limping along panting heavily, feeling lightheaded. He laid down on his side, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he stared in awe at the intensely bright sun before closing his eyes to shield them from the bright light.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga backed off slightly, finding his own anger rising to the surface at Snowy's hostility. "Hey, it hasn't all been grassy fields and clear waterholes for me either!" he snapped as Snowy stomped off through the sands, before growling in annoyance and leaving him to wander off his own way.

But as Tanga turned around, he saw Snowy slowing down, and noticed that his thick coat was really starting to get him in the heat. For a brief moment, Tanga considered just walking off and leaving the ill-tempered cheetah to his fate. But in the end, his conscience would not allow it, and he turned back...just as Snowy collapsed.

"Snowy!" Tanga's voice was full of concern as he dashed to the cheetah's side, noticing his heavy breathing and the way his eyes were jammed shut. He was alive and conscious...but seemed to be in the early stages of hyerthermia, and unless Tanga found something to cool him down soon, the thick fur would kill him.

"Snowy, come on!" Tanga called, trying to get his attention. "Get up! You'll die if you stay here, we need to find you shade and water!"

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy grumbled, feeling a little disoriented already. But he heeded Tanga's advice and rose wobbily to his paws and looked around. But where? he asked, seeing nothing but empty desert all around. Snowy wished for a cool breeze or an oasis, but he knew that was unrealistic.

The snow cheetah sniffed the hot air around him, hoping his nose would point he and Tanga in the direction of something other than sand. There had to be something somewhere around there. But in his state, he wasn't able to make out anything.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga thought hard, noticing that the heat of the desert was beginning to get to him as well...they could both use a small oasis to cool off. He looked up at the morning sun, using it's position in the eastern sky to get his bearings, before moving off slowly to the west, letting Snowy balance on his shoulder if he needed.

"Come on," he said, attempting to pick up the pace. "There's a jungle of some sort out this way...some other lion seems to have marked it out as his territory already, but we'll have to risk it."

Tanga remembered that time, a day or two into his exile, when he stumbled across the jungle at the western fringes of the desert. Tanga had excitedly leapt towards it, only to stop as he picked up the faint scent of another lion. It had a strange weakness to it, as if the lion that owned the territory had not bothered marking his presence for quite some time, but Tanga did not want to risk getting into a fight over territory boundaries, and so avoided it, seeking out other small oases to use for shade and water.

But now they were desperate, Snowy was growing weaker by the minute, and the jungle was the closest source of shade they were going to find for miles around, from what Tanga knew of the desert...and despite Snowy's attitude, he'd rather attract the anger of this mysterious lion than leave the snowy cheetah to die...it was just the way he did things.

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy tried not to lean on Tanga when he could avoid it. His unreasonably-bad attitude prevailed, causing him to walk with his head turned away from the yellow and gray lion who had saved his life. Grumbling under his breath, he squirmed his toes as the sand irritated his webs, but trudged on. Where the lion was leading him, he didn't know, but he knew that even if he disliked Tanga for whatever reason, he was the only hope left for survival. He was glad that they were heading east, so at least the sun wasn't in their eyes.

After walking for awhile Snowy began feeling stupid for acting so hostile. His frustrations at the events leading up to his desert predicament were beginning to subside. He debated whether or not to apologize to Tanga for his behavior, and decided to keep quiet awhile, only shooting a nervous, sheepish glance every so often at the lion.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga kept his gaze forward, avoiding locking eyes with Snowy lest he set off the snowy cheetah's bad temper again. He never noticed the looks on his companion's face as they trudged on, the jungle finally coming into view as the desert finally began to give way to barren, sparse grasslands.

At this point, Tanga motioned for Snowy to stop a moment, before whispering to him. "Keep as quiet as possible...I have no idea what this jungle's hiding, or if that lion's still around."

With those brief words, Tanga continued helping Snowy forward, letting hid nose guide him towards water as they fell under the welcome shadows of the trees, Tanga sighing in relief as the sun's heat eased from his back...he hated that desert.

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy purred as he felt the grass beneath his paws, giving him a break from the irritating sand he'd been walking in. The grass tickled his pads and webs a little, but it was a lot less irritating than the sand. He breathed in the sweet air, and felt the cool shade of the trees on his pelt as the sun was tamed by the branches and leaves. Tanga I'm... Sorry. Snowy blurted out as he relaxed. Thanks for saving me. He looked Tanga in the eyes and waited for a reply, his heart beating a little faster than normal.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked back at Snowy as the cheetah apologised. That, of all things, had been the last thing he had expected to hear.

It took him a few moments to compose himself, and manage a reply. "It's okay...you you've had a bad day, right? Besides, I've been just as cold, so I'm just as sorry as you are." He hung his head for a moment. "I think we've both been through a lot recently."

He looked back up as he passed a particularly thick piece of foliage and came across a small, shallow, clear stream. "Oh, yes!" he blurted, relieved as he left Snowy by the bank, unsure of what the cheetah wanted, before jumping into the stream, rolling around in the shallows for a few brief moments as he let the cool water soak him through, relieving the day's heat.

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy sighed in relief as he heard that Tanga wasn't angry. Then the lion suddenly exclaimed Oh yes! and ran, jumping into a stream. Snowy had never before seen such a thing. Where he was, when someone eas thirsty they ate snow. He didn't even know what it was that was flowing in the depression in the ground. He was a little nervous even to have his paws near the edge, and stepped back a little. W-w-what is that?! he said, his voice shaking a little as he watched Tanga roll around in it as if not scared at all.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga stopped, raising an eyebrow at Snowy as he lay in the shallows, his fur dripping wet. "You can't be serious? You..." he stopped as he saw the honesty in snowy's eyes. "You have no idea what water is? What did you drink back home?"

The idea of a creature that did not know of water was a completely foreign one to Tanga, and one that left him even more curious about this strange snow cheetah, and the land he had once called home. Tanga quickly had a brief drink from the stream, before sitting in the shallows in front of snowy, waiting for him to explain his complete ignorance of what water was. He had to stifle a chuckle as he realised the oddness of the situation...here he was, soaking wet, about to explain to a cheetah what water was.