plain old blood feud. But she had mentioned Seko. And Shenya. Were they in on it too? But why? Shenya had beaten him up pretty nasty, yeah. But that’s what she does: she beats you up, then leaves you be, and if you’re lucky she’ll apologize for it later. But Shenya, his own sister for crying out loud, a murderer? And he could hardly believe Seko had the stomach (let alone the authority) to order a hit. But Kali mentioned them, and it was neither her style nor fitting of her intelligence to blame someone else. Plus, she had also mentioned Shenya would break her neck on a lion’s paw or something, what the hell did she mean by that? Suddenly, it hit Vincent. He knew why Shenya would have wanted him dead, and why Vitani taking the blame would have been so important. No… she wouldn’t… Would she? She couldn’t possibly try to… Suddenly, Vincents thoughts were interrupted by Vitani.

 

“So… what do we do now?”

 

“Huh? Stay here and chill out a bit longer for all I care…”

 

“Yeah, but after that?”

 

“I‘ll try getting home, and you’ll probably do the same.”

 

“You’re kidding me right? You’re not seriously considering going back to the same guys that tried to kill ya?” Vitani frowned.

 

“What other options do you think I have? It’s not like you’re relatives would be any less murderous if they met me. And I don’t fancy wandering around in the wilderness all by my self, so that only leaves a trip back to the clan.”

 

“Probably… So here’s where our roads part?”

 

As he could tell from the look on her face, she wasn’t really looking forward to that, and neither was Vincent.

 

“Well, not at once, I mean, we still need to find a crossing and stuff…” Vincent argued.

 

“Then one of us will be making a detour.”

 

“I doubt it…”

 

“Why, you plan on moving?”

 

No, but Shenya might, and she‘d be taking the whole clan with her, Vincent had come to realise. And he already guessed what their new home would be. Better not to tell Vitani, as not to make her panicky… or hostile.

 

“No, eh, nothing… I’ll tell you on the way to the crossing, hyena stuff, long story. Boring too,” Vincent lied. As Vitani was still feeling like shed been thrown of a cliff, which happened to be the case, she didn’t notice this time around.

“Besides, we ought to get moving, I don’t think there’s a lot to eat around here, and It’d really suck starving, or having to eat one another…”

 

“Yuk,” Vitani growled with mild disgust.

 

The cheetah, which was still watching them, suddenly had a hard time suppressing a loud yawn, and Vincent spotted him again. He turned to Vitani.

 

“You noticed that guy? I think he’s been watching us all morning already. Come on, get up, let’s remind him who’s boss ‘round here…”

 

“Why not,” Vitani yawned, “Nothing like ventilating some anger upon an unsuspecting bystander.”

 

That was, of course, easier said than done, as Vincent still limped a bit, and Vitani’s muscles still felt as supple as limestone. Vincent reached the cheetah first, but to his amazement, the skinny predator didn’t flee in panic, which it ought to have been doing.

 

“Ain’t it about time you buggered off, you’re looking awfully tired.”

 

No response. Vincent positioned himself right in front of the big cat, and then exhaled his intolerably foul breath into the cheetah’s face, which turned his head in disgust.

 

“Having problems with my dental hygiene, are we?”

 

“Not at all,” the cheetah noted stoical, “I just couldn’t help notice your breath stinks of death even more than your fur does.”

 

His brutality and lack of being intimidated started annoying Vincent. Vitani sat down next to him.

 

“If you like what his mouth smells like, you’ll really love the interior of my stomach. And from what I’m guessing, someone’s haggling for a one way trip,” Vitani smiled, so polite it became vicious. By now, the cheetah already seemed a bit more reluctant to defy then he had been earlier, cowering back a little bit. But the way he spoke still tasted a bit offensive.

 

“Comrades, I’d be the last one to criticize a bit of diversity. We’ve all got to do with the genes our parents gave us, now don’t we? Even when it comes to very pronounced personal odours,”

 

“Look here, comrade, how ‘bout telling us why you’ve been spying on us the whole morning, and you might even live to see a next dawn,” Vitani suggested.

 

The cheetah seemed to be the longer the less at ease.

 

“Now now, let’s try leaving threats behind us for the time being, I was just being a bit curious: it’s not every day you see a hyena and a lion having a polite chat…”

 

Though the cheetah had a point, Vincent felt he was a bit too much of a know-it-all.

No response. Vincent positioned himself right in front of the big cat, and then exhaled his intolerably foul breath into the cheetah’s face, which turned his head in disgust.

 

-GB"> 

“Are you going to tell us, the uncontested rulers of the plains, what we can and can’t do?” Vincent grumbled.

 

Vitani wanted to make a vicious addition to that, but suddenly realized they were making a mistake trying to chase the cheetah off, so she tried to calm it down a little.

 

“Us having a chat only comes to show we’re actually nice guys, now don’t it Vincent? You’re from around here, cheetah?”

 

“Judging by the way he’s talking to us I’d say he’s way off…” Vincent mumbled, not aware Vitani was trying to pacify the conversation.

 

“Well, do you or don’t you know the area?” Vitani asked again, ignoring Vincent, who suddenly realized where she was going at. He didn’t like it, but lacked a decent alternative and felt a bit rushed, so decided to go with it.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m from around here. I’m a man of many places; I go where my paws take me. But I know my way ‘round in these parts, if that’s what you mean.”

 

As she looked at him, Vitani could tell Vincent was still not fond of the idea, but as he didn’t protest openly, she went ahead anyway, trying  

“Now now, let’s try leaving threats behind us for the time being, I was just being a bit curious: it’s not every day you see a hyena and a lion having a polite chat…”

 

Though the cheetah had a point, Vincent felt he was a bit too much of a know-it-all.

No response. Vincent positioned himself right in front of the big cat, and then exhaled his intolerably foul breath into the cheetah’s face, which turned his head in disgust.

 

to enlist the cheetah.

 

“Look, it’s just we’re in a bit of a situation here… We washed up here by accident and we have to find a crossing. Problem is, we don’t know our way around. So if you’d be nice enough to take us to a crossing…”

 

“And why would I do that, might I ask?”

 

“It’ll benefit your life expectancy greatly,” Vincent suggested, now smiling overly polite.

 

“So does running real fast. And I’m quite adept at that.”

 

“Hey, I ain’t stopping ya. Yet.”

 

The cheetah grinned, and then nodded politely.

 

“Of course, leaving you two out here would be unfit to a gentleman. Plus, I’m always ready to help a fellow predator in need.”

 

For a moment there, Vincent thought he noticed something strange in the cheetah’s otherwise uncaring eyes, a sudden glimpse of cold and dark thoughts, immediately swept away by his ever present arrogance. Vincent hadn’t liked the idea of him guiding them in the first place, and now found it even less appealing.

 

“I happen to know a crossing not too far from here. Only one problem though. It’s on the other side of the passes.”

 

“I do hope we can go round?” Vitani complained, as she couldn’t begin to imagine what a hike over the white passes could be like. But Vincent had realised they didn’t have time for that. Not if he wanted to try and stop Shenya, which he still thought possible. The thought of what would happen if he wouldn’t was enough to both make him forget about his initial distrust for the cheetah and his gut-feeling he had about crossing the passes.

 

“We ain’t got time to go ‘round. Can you get us over them passes?” Vincent quickly asked.

 

The cheetah smiled, for the first time that day, and before Vitani could ask why Vincent was in a hurry all of a sudden, the cheetah answered Vincent, his eyes again showing a faint touch of frost and gloom.

 

“Why yes, that was what I had in mind from the start.”

You did what – act two

“You did what?”

 

“Hey, don’t look at me. It’s not like I pushed them off personally you know; they were tumbling down before I knew it!” Kali reacted defensively.

 

“So they both just ran off the cliff?” Seko asked, still a bit confused.

 

“Well, not exactly… I mean, Vincent stopped just in time, but the lioness bumped into him. A long fall ensued.”

 

“Hehe, guess she’s the one who killed him after all,” Seko giggled, “Talking about playing her part nicely. Saved you a lot of mess, and me a lot of lying… That reminds me; keep the story straight when Shenya gets here, got it? We might have done the right thing, but if it gets out, it won’t exactly make our day.”

 

“Don’t worry; my girls won’t slip a word. And I’ll keep to the explanation you gave me. Let’s just hope it sticks.”

 

Yeah, let’s hope it does… Only thinking about what would happen if it didn’t made his stomach turn to stone. He wanted to tell her, he should tell her, he just had to tell her! After all, he had taken the bold move of

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