“So what do you do out here?”
“So what do you do out here?” You ask him.
“Whatever I can.” He says in response, now cleaning underneath his nails. You find yourself growing hungry once more, now that your guard is lowered you begin to scrape the last of the flesh from the ivory bones from the carcass. Maggots wriggle from the eyes of the flesh. The two of you continue to eat with each other, in silence, tearing away at the flesh together.
The quantities of food the two of you consumed cause you both to fall asleep, only lumbering a few meters away from the original spot. A risk worth taking the both of you thought, as you lazily dozed off in the night with each other.
The cat nap didn’t last long, a sound jolts you awake the flapping feathers of avian species cause you and your new friend to flail awake in response to the sudden beating of wings growing far. The sun having fully set, you both adjust your eyes to the darkness, feeling fully awake despite the time. A cold breeze blows through the rocky cliff faces, it causes a shiver to run down your spine. The winds audibly whip against the dusty red rock.
“I think we need to leave.” The male lion says, you look at him, confused. “I think there’s someone else here.” He says worried, now starting to pace off, while looking back at you for confirmation. Your paws carry you close behind him.
“Wait what?” you say, worried about this situation. In a moment the both of you take off at full speed back into the clearing, kicking up thick clouds of dirt behind your paws as your lean body fly across a sea of sandy savannah grass. The cold desert air feels less cool out in the middle of the sun-heated rocks underfoot, the stabbing and burning actually feels soothing on your paw pads, scratching at their rough undersides.
The two of you catch your breath about a kilometer away from the opening in the cliffside. You look over the vast clearing, unable to make out the trees on the other side, the darkness spans for farther than your eyes can see.
“What was that about?” You say to the skinny lion, heaving his gangly chest along with you.
“I thought I caught the scent of a pridelander” He says between breaths, you can sense the seriousness on his voice. “Over the years they’ve stopped respecting the circle of life.” He continues, his weak skinny frame nearly collapsing as the two of you find refuge near a large tree. “They kill and kill just for fun, bred from some of the strongest from pride rock.” your face begins to shift from fear and anger to concern as you listen to the feeble lion’s tales. “They leave nothing for us loners..”
His words really stick with you, the two of you have exerted a significant amount of your energy supplies in that dash.
“That’s terrible. It looks like you haven’t had any food in weeks.” You say to him.
“Yeah it’s been a while.” He replies.
Written by Driftingdragon on 12 December 2019