Painted Flowers

Epilogue

The Pack of Painted Flowers adopted a traditionally nomadic lifestyle but made their primary home in a little valley northward, upstream, past the waterfall and the cliffs beyond. It was in a land that Mosi had promised to take his daughter if given the chance. It was lush and green, surrounded by woodland for protection and harboring plenty of prey to eat. It was practically paradise, if one looked at it as such; it certainly provided anything a painted dog--or a cheetah--could need.

Nearly one year after the Battle for the Brushes, so it had been titled, Layali awoke to a bright sunny morning in the dry season camp. Her new den was nestled underground and surrounded by a briar patch for protection. And, of course, every inch of it was blanketed with the soft downy moss bedding that Layali required. She stretched luxuriously as she emerged, trotting into the center of the hollow, breathing in the fresh air and feeling purely happy.

The first member of the Pack of Painted Flowers that she met that morning was the odd one out, Kioni. It was amazing how much she had grown since Layali had rescued the poor little thing from the fire. She was no longer skinny in the sense that she was underweight, but long-legged and lanky, as if she needed to grow into her paws; the same way a teenage dog would be. She no longer had her fluffy mane, which Layali missed a bit, and she was nearly as tall as the dogs who had rescued her. It felt like such a short time had passed since they had first met, yet so much had happened since then that Kioni was bound to have changed at least a little.

"Where do you think you're going?" Layali poked fun at the young cheetah, who looked like she was slinking away.

Kioni stopped in her tracks, blinking her beautiful brown eyes. "Oh...nowhere, Auntie."

Layali shuffled to a sitting position and winked. "Off to see your boyfriend?"

Kioni's ears drooped, though she was smiling. "Maybe-e-e..."

Layali put a paw up. "Hey, I won't judge. But let me see him sometime, okay?"

"Actually, Auntie, um...I invited him here."

Common sense would have directed Layali to use her nose and detect the presence of another cheetah, but Layali didn't always show common sense, so she was staggered to find that she was to meet someone new right as she woke up.

"He's right over there..." Kioni admitted. "Hey, it's alright, come out!"

A male cheetah, a bit more melanistic than Kioni and even having wavy stripes on his back in place of spots, padded in through the bushes, timidly looking around. He was larger than Kioni, thus making him larger than Layali, and she was a bit nervous by this fact; though he seemed more scared of her than she would be of a strange feline entering her home.

Kioni nudged him encouragingly, whispering something into his ear.

"Jambo!" The cheetah greeted. "I am Zikomo."

Layali's eyes widened. So Kioni had already taught him a bit of their language? She felt a surge of pride for the remarkable cat.

Zikomo turned to Kioni shyly. "Is my Canine...good?"

Kioni purred loudly. "Yes! You'll be fluent in no time."

Layali was ecstatic. "Pleased to meet you, Zikomo. Alright, you have my approval, Kioni. Run along and have fun, you two."

And so they did. The pair of cheetahs left the camp in a joyful skip, competing to see who could outrun the other.

Satisfied, Layali began her morning walk, taking in the sights that had become so familiar and warm as time moved on. Strolling past the scattered groups of trees, she spotted Shani and all three of her daughters settled at the edge of the woods where she would come sometimes to pick herbs. Ultimately, she and Jabari had decided to settle down with the pack, despite Shani's reluctance to leave her "wandering" way of life. It had been Jabari, of course, who convinced her, insisting that their children would have the best possible lives, provided for by pack members who cared about them. It was definitely the right decision in the end, at least in Layali's eyes. It was great not only to have a real and experienced healer in the pack, but Esi, Ashanti and Daliah were all growing into fine young dogs.