Painted Flowers

Prologue

It would be difficult to describe life on the savanna to one who hadn't lived there their entire life. From the gentle birdsong at sunrise to the drone of insects in the evening, it was a never-ending battle for the small creatures who lived here to make themselves heard to one another. For a cheetah, however, making such noise--making their presence known in any way--could cause their demise.

Such was the way of life for Kioni, and she had simply grown to accept it. None of the animals in the area that night, even the herd of massive elephants that had stopped for a soak in the stream, were aware of the location of her family's den, and that was how she liked it. Her long front legs were the first to be seen emerging from the well-crafted home among the rocks, followed by her gleaming brown eyes. The striking spotted patterns on her coat stood out among the boulder she jumped onto, but when she walked among the shadows of the endless blades of grass, she was next to invisible.

It had been only a day since the mother's last hunt, but her three cubs were more than restless at this point. Her mate was already far ahead of her, scouring every inch of the valley for a trace of a meal, traveling even through dog territory. The cheetah family had nothing to fear from painted dogs, for they were their allies. It was highly unusual for competing predators to instead join forces and become a unit, but it was dogs who had raised Kioni. She had grown so familiar with their culture that she would sometimes forget that she was an entirely different genus. And she trusted this particular pack with not only her own life, but her cubs'.

Kioni's foster mother was named Layali, or "Gogo" to Aliyah, Akello, and Nzere. Layali was getting on in years, but would continue visiting the cheetah den for her volunteer babysitting duties, litter after litter, until her final breath. Kioni loved Layali dearly, and was more than certain that her children would be safe under her watch. Perhaps Layali would entertain them with one of her many stories...she just loved to chatter away.

Satisfied with this thought, Kioni descended the stones and made her way into the fields to begin her nightly task, and the crickets continued their endless song and the sky faded to indigo.

__________________

Aliyah, Akello, and Nzere, as Kioni had predicted, were wide awake even with the lack of light at sundown. They eyed Layali mischievously as the elderly dog dozed. The larger of the boys, sporting a distinct tuft of blond fur on his head, crept up towards Layali's deaf side and pounced.

"Gogo!" Akello chirped, while his foster grandmother jerked in surprise at the sudden feeling of claws on her flank. "When's Mama going to be back?"

Thanks to Layali's teachings, each member of the cheetah family was bilingual--near fluent in Canine, in addition to their natural tongue, Feline. They would speak both languages interchangeably, so it was hardly any trouble for either species to understand one another. This was possible because of the similarities shared by all predator tongues, but they would not, for example, be able to learn the language of Rodent or Ungulate. Any speech of grazer or prey animal was just too foreign for them.

Nzere, the second male with rather light fur, rolled his eyes. "Akello, she's going hunting. It'll be forever until she's back."

Layali sighed, pushing herself into a sitting position. "You're brother's right, little one. Hunting trips take a while, especially at this time of year when prey is scarce."

"But we're booored!" Aliyah, the little girl, whined.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be stuck in the cave while Mama does all the work," Akello complained.

Layali smirked. "Your time will come. Enjoy your youth and innocence while it lasts." She stretched her aching body, ever envious of the cubs' energy. Memories of a time when she had once shared their enthusiasm suddenly flooded her mind. "I'm old, and I've lived a long and hard life. I've dealt with deceit, and hunger, and...awful animals. I'm hoping you cubs never have to experience what I've been through."

Sensing the sudden discomfort in the air, Layali shook her head. She was all too used to negative thoughts suddenly encompassing her, seemingly out of nowhere, but knew that there was certainly no reason to bring down the spirits of these little cheetahs. She needed to work on being more positive, though taking note of her age, perhaps it was a bit too late for her at this point.

"I'm not saying my life was entirely made up of hardships," Layali rasped. "There were plenty of great things to come out of it. Your mother, for example."

Aliyah smiled. "You adopted her when she was just a cub, right?"

"When she was our age," added Akello.

Layali nodded. "That's right, I rescued her. Without us...she wouldn't have survived."

The elderly dog was quiet for a moment, looking outside the cave to the stars in the ever darkening sky. Layali was very content with the peace she had settled into with her pack. Though she had many regrets, particularly in her early years, she wouldn't change a thing about the outcome of her life. She had earned her aching bones and grizzled muzzle, and knew deep down that her time on this land would soon come to an end. The legacy she had acquired with her friends and family would live on in the memories of her packmates, and even among felines with the cheetahs' help.

"Are you going to tell a story tonight?" Nzere asked.

"Yeah, tell a story!" Aliyah chirped.

Layali focused her attention back towards the trio. "What do you want to hear?"

"Everything!"

"All the bad things you've been through."

"And all the good things!"

Layali was surprised, genuinely not anticipating the cubs to be so eager to hear of...everything. Though she often reminisced of the past, with her nostalgia of her days of adventure often clouding her mind to distract her from the pains of being frail, young children simply did not share her interest in it. She would always tell stories, but they were usually familiar painted dog legends, or simple cheetah folk tales. She never really spoke of her early days to the trio, with the obvious exception of the Battle for the Brushes--for it was a legend in itself at this point. Though, the days of the Battle would be quite a bit late into Layali's tale, and she wanted to start from the beginning.

This story, Layali decided, would be her finest yet--it had to be, for she sensed it would be the last time she would be able to share her life, in her own words, with the world. She could feel deep in her heart that this would be the last night she would spend with the cubs, before her time on this land would run out forever. It was in the paws of these three little felines to pass along her memoir, and she knew it was indeed something to behold. They wouldn't be able to forget it if they tried.

"Okay," Layali decided, contemplating how she would even begin such an arduous tale. "But it's not going to be pretty."