Savariana

Chapter Three

POW!

The cheetahs leaped up onto all four paws. Jasiri jerked up, petrified. He glared around, searching for the source of the loud sound.

"What was that?" He asked, scared. "Was that a lion?"

"A lion's roar, dimwit!" Maisha snarled. She turned and glared at her mother, wide-eyed. "Mom, what was that?"

Amara glared off into the distance and gasped. "Run!" She ordered.

Jasiri glared at a creature roaring towards them in the distance. He gasped. It was a truck filled with humans, and it  was charging right at them! He could see that some humans were hanging out of the trucks window, holding guns. Their yells echoed through the air.

"Poachers!" Amara yowled again. She began running, and the cubs followed after her.

POW! POW! POW!

Jasiri could see the bullets bounce off of the earth. One bullet almost struck him. He screamed with fear and ran faster.

Amara glared at a shrub. "Hide in there!" She ordered.

The cubs leaped into the shrub, camouflaging.

"I love you," Amara purred. "Stay here. Do not come out." The mother licked her cubs and then sprinted off into the distance. The truck roared past the shrub and headed after Amara. The humans were screaming in non-cheetah language.

Amara ran faster, dirt kicking up from her paws. She disapeared into the dense undergrowth.

POW!

Everything fell silent after that last gunshot. Suddenly, the yowl of a cheetah broke the silence.

"MOM!" Maisha screamed. Tears rolled down her muzzle. "NO!"

Jasiri gasped. "No," He mewed. "Mom?" He then yelled, "Mom!"

There was no answer.

"The humans got her," Maisha sobbed. "She's gone forever."

"We're going to die!" Falsafa yelled, frightened, flailing his paws up.

"We're not going to die," Jasiri chirped, trying to calm them down. "We can find mom."

"Can't you see?" Masha hissed. "She's de..." She paused and sighed. "Never mind. You'll never understand."

Falsafa peered out of the shrub and leaped out. "The humans are gone," He chirped. Maisha leaped out as well.

"Mom told us to stay in the bush," Jasiri mewed.

His sister snapped, "Mom's not here. Now we have to survive. We have to leave this place. It's too dangerous."

Jasiri sprung out and landed on the hard, dry earth. The sun was high overhead, baking the earth with it's scorching heat. It even made the cub hot and very parched.

"We should get something to drink," He squeaked. "My throat is dry."

"We'll find water soon," Maisha said. "Let's go. We can't stay here."

The cubs began walking through the savanna. There were no cloud in the sky and not a breeze of cool wind whipped by them. Walking through the arid heat made Jasiri even more parched. Minutes turned to hours of walking. There was no water to be seen.

Jasiri suddenly saw a pond in the distance. "Water!" He chirped. It hurt to speak. He ran towards it, but it seemed to move away from him. He chased after it and skidded to a halt. There was no water. It was nothing but a mirage.

"How long have we been walking?" Falsafa asked, his voice cracking. "I'm so thirsty!" He glanced up and saw vultures hovering above the cubs.

"I am too," Maisha chirped. "We are going to die."

"We are not!" Jasiri said, sounding hoarse. His voice stung with pain. "I want to find mom! I don't think she is dead." He still had  sense of optimism left in him.

"Look!" Maisha squeaked, ignoring her little brother. "Water!"

"It's probably a mirage," Falsafa sighed. "I was fooled by it one time, okay. One time!"

"No, look!"

The cubs followed Maisha to a small puddle. It was filled with very brown water. It was as long as an adult cheetahs tail, but as deep as a cub's paw. They crowded around it and lapped up the water. It was very warm, but they didn't mind. Jasiri pushed his paw into the soft mud in the puddle and dug, trying to make it deeper.

Surrounding the puddle was a bed of clay. Jasiri stepped an inch from the puddle and decided to make his own. He began digging in the clay, making his hole as deep as his tail was long. Finally, water began to seep into the bottom of his hole.

It was more mud than water, but he drank it anyways. It was cooler than the water from the other puddle. It took multiple mouthfuls for his thirst to be quenched. He swished the water around in his mouth with his tongue, spat out the grains of sand and swallowed the water.

"That was a relief," He purred. His voice didn't hurt as much. "Can we go to sleep now?"

"Yes," Maisha chirped. She glanced around and saw an acacia tree. They walked up to it and stretched out under it's cool shade.

"Ah," Jasiri said, relieved. "This is so nice." He sunk his paws into the soft, cool soil.

"Yeah," Falsafa mewed, rolling over on his back.

Maisha layed down on a rock that stood under the acacia. She yawned and layed her head down on her paws.

"Maisha?" Jasiri asked.

His sister lifted up her ears. "Yes?" She asked.

"Do you ever think we'll find mom?"

Maisha glared at him and paused. "Maybe," She breathed. She knew well that her mother was gone, but she did not want to upset her little brother. "Let's just go to sleep. Tommorow is another day.