Out of Bounds

Prologue

A heavy, pale-yellow paw slammed down onto Calypso's face. A slight breeze ruffled the golden grass of the plains with the sun low in the morning sky. The cheetah cub grimaced, biting his tongue to keep quiet. Can't let them think I'm in pain. His head smacked into the ground, dust filling his mouth and nostrils as he tried to breathe. He coughed, choking on the dirt, as his attacker grinned down at him. Both cubs were coated in a thick layer of the dust and grass of the savanna because of their scuffle. Calypso's moon-white fur was barely visible in the dirt that covered him.

"L-lemme up...!" begged Calypso, sputtering and struggling against the heavier weight.

"Not a chance," sneered the bigger cub.

Calypso yelped in surprise as claws raked his muzzle. He felt the blood gushing from the slash as it gathered in a puddle beside his right eye. His forepaws scrabbled uselessly at the bigger cub's underbelly, his hind legs kicking at the air. He's not going to stop, Calypso realized with a jolt. At least, not until I give up. He wouldn't kill me, though. Right?

"You're a useless waste of space, you snow-cat," the bigger cub growled with a smirk. "You can't do anything to benefit the coalition. And once the grown-ups see that, they'll kick you out and you'll be left all by yourself to di—"

"HEY!"

The pair glanced up, searching for the owner of the voice. Shock filled Calypso when he saw to whom it belonged.

It was a female cub he'd never seen before, but she was strikingly beautiful. Her golden fur shone in the morning sunlight, illuminating her dark patterns. he stalked up to the smaller cub's attacker and hissed, "What are you doing Quicksand?"

Does he already know her? Jealousy flashed through Calypso.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," Quicksand grinned, switching on his charm. "I'm taking care of it." The sandy-colored cub applied more pressure to Calypso's face and he whimpered.

The female glanced down at the smaller cub and asked, "He's bullying you, right?"

Calypso hesitated before slowly nodding. He yelped again as Quicksand unsheathed his claws, digging into the smaller cub's skin.

"Don't make me look bad," Quicksand hissed through gritted teeth, glaring down at Calypso.

The female flattened her ears against her head. The smaller cub caught her gaze and held it, both looking into the other's eyes. Something flashed in hers, flickering away just as soon as it came, and she pulled away, looking back up at the bigger cub. Calypso noticed her muscles tense up as if she was preparing to pounce.

"Let him go," she ordered defiantly.

Quicksand chuckled. "Why? It's not like I'm hurting him or anything. Right, Cal?" The bigger cub bared his teeth threateningly and Calypso looked away. "Anyways, what does it even matter to you, Sahara?"

"It matters to me if big cubs like yourself are picking on the runts for no reason!" snapped Sahara.

"There is a reason though. Right, guys?"

Yowls and yelps of agreement arose from the small gathering ring of cubs. Quicksand glanced around triumphantly before returning his grin to Sahara, who scowled at him.

"What is it, then?" demanded Sahara. "What's the reason?"

"Just look at his fur!" someone yowled.

"Since you're, er, new to the coalition, I suppose it's not your fault you don't know. But at the same time, how have you not noticed this snow-cat? He's white as the northern mountains!"

"I'm not watching every cheetah closely, Quicksand. There are a lot of us in this group. I'm not surprised I haven't seen him before."

"Well, then, come check it out," sneered Quicksand.

Calypso winced. Is she going to hate me, like all of the other cubs? Or will she help me?

He felt Sahara's paws hitting the earth as she strode closer to examine his fur. A small gasp escaped her mouth. "Woah," she murmured. "That's so cool!"

Calypso looked up at her. "You think so?" he and Quicksand said in unison, confusion slamming into the two male cubs.

"Um, duh!" Sahara said, as though it were as obvious as the sky above them. Calypso beamed. "Is this why you're attacking him?" she asked Quicksand.

"Yeah...?" he said, unsure. Quicksand was never unsure! I suppose that's the power of girls... Calypso thought, hiding a grin.

Suddenly, all of the weight on top of him fell away and Calypso jumped up before he could be tackled again. A yelp erupted from behind him and he looked over just in time to see Sahara pinning Quicksand to the ground. She growled something in his ear before pulling away and trotting towards Calypso. Wow, she's kinda cool... She scared Quicksand! She's gotta teach me how to do that!

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding genuine. "You've got a pretty bad scratch on your muzzle. It'll probably leave a scar. But other than that, you're all right?"

She spoke with so much energy that it was difficult to keep up with her, but after processing the sentence, Calypso answered, "Yeah, I'm good." Sahara paused. His voice was very soft and small, she noticed as if he were afraid that someone would yell at him to be quiet. Sahara glanced around. Was there someone here who did that?

"That's a relief," she said, turning back to Calypso. "Now we can play together because I wanna have a friend but no one wants to be my friend because I'm 'too annoying.' But you don't think I'm annoying, right?" Her eyes glowed as she spoke to him; something he'd never seen another cheetah's eyes do. He barely even knew this funny cub, and yet he was already mesmerized.

"Uh, n-no, not at all!" he blurted. "I don't have very many friends either."

"You know, you got kinda dirty from that fight," observed Sahara. "Is there, like, a river or something you can wash off in?" She looked around. "I don't think grooming yourself is gonna taste very good," she added as Calypso sat down and began licking his forearms.

"Well, see, I, uh..." Calypso paused his grooming and glanced down at the ground in embarrassment. "I... don't know how to swim..."

"Really?" Sahara seemed curious. Calypso nodded.

"No one taught us how," Calypso explained. "They must've thought it was a useless skill or something. I'm not sure, honestly..."

"Well, then, I'll teach you!" volunteered Sahara.

His face lit up at the offer "You will?"

Sahara gave him a playful nudge and he fell over. "Of course, I will! If we can be friends, that is."

"Yeah, let's be friends," Calypso smiled, standing up.

"If I teach you to swim, maybe you could teach me how to get an AWESOME scar like yours!" the female declared.

"It's not too difficult," Calypso laughed. "But sure."

"And we'll also have to look out for each other," added Sahara. "Like friends do."

"Yeah."

Sahara jumped up, suddenly bursting with energy again. "Wanna race?" she asked, flashing Calypso a grin. Without waiting for a response, she charged forward at a startling speed, racing full-tilt towards the rest of the coalition.

"SAHARA, WAIT!" Calypso cried, chasing after her. "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER IF WE CAN'T EVEN SEE ONE ANOTHER?" He heard cackling in the distance and shrieked again, "SAHARAAAAA! WAIT FOR ME!"