Chapter 6- Xandor and Harratina
When Xandor was two months old, he wasn't as afraid of his 'stepbrothers' but was still wary of the things they could do to him.
One morning, after Lina had come back from making a kill, she stumbled across two fleeing cheetah couples.
One had a young one-month-old cheetah girl, and in the other couple, the female was heavily pregnant, and probably about to give birth any minute.
Lina dropped the kills she was dragging and motioned the cheetahs to stop. "Where are you running to?" asked Lina.
"We are fleeing from a horrible tigon who beat me, and almost force mated with Utia, my sister. Do you know any place we could rest, we have been running for an afternoon and all night!" said the pregnant cheetah.
Lina frowned and she almost immediately knew who the tigon was. "Come with me, you can stay in my quarters. You must exhausted and hungry. I have just made a kill. You can share it with my family." Lina offered.
"Yes, we would like that very much, thankyou, kind white hyena." said the other female hyena, which must be called Utia.
Lina, Utia, her child, her sister, and their mates, chatted a bit on the way to Lina's den.
She found out the one month old girl was named Harratina, Utia's sister was named Edefith, and she was pregnant with a girl.
Utia's mate was named Tymo, and Edefith's mate was called Shakar. The two males were best friends.
Through talking, Lina found out they all played together as cubs. When she returned to her campsite, Lina woke the boys, and told them it was time for kill.
Xandor ran out first, followed by the tired duo of brothers, who had grown close and more evil together.
"Hey, Mom, you've brought visitors!" Xandor hugged his mother.
"Yes, I have darling. Xandor, Vladek, Igor, meet Utia and Tymo, their cub, Harratina, and Edefith and Shakar. Edefith is having a cub soon, so be gentle with her." introduced Lina.
Vladek rolled his eyes, grabbed some kill and got going.
"Mother, you've brought strangers I don't care about, Hooray. I'm going to see my friends." He said with biting sarcasm.
"I'm going with him, to see Cordelia. Hi, um whoever you are." Igor said and took some kill and followed after his brother.
"Sorry, Vladek's an adolescent, you know how teenage boys are, always wanting to see their friends. Igor is trying to be like him. Xandor, you haven't introduced yourself to everyone, have you?" asked Lina.
"No, I'm so sorry. My name's Xandor. I'm two." Xandor told them politely. "Hi, Xandor, I'm Harratina, I'm one." Harratina was eager to play with someone.
"Ok, Harratina, if you'd like you can go play Xandor, so long as you're nice. Is that ok, Lina?" wondered Utia.
"Sure it is. I've wanted a playmate for my son. Go on, go play, but stay in our sight." Lina encouraged them.
Harratina touched Xandor on the shoulder.
"Tag, your it!" Xandor looked at her weirdly.
"You don't know how to play? Well, I tag you, then you have to try and catch me, and tag me, then you say 'tag, your it!', ok. Ready? Tag, your it!" Harratina explained and then rushed off.
Xandor smiled and then ran after her, in the tall grass.
She stalked through the grass quietly, then over a log, but Xandor surprised her by meeting her in mid air, and then tackling her and pinning her.
Then he was on top of her, and they both blushed.
Xandor then broke the moment by tagging her and yelling, "Tag your it!" And he rushed off again.
They played for hours, until they were exhausted.
Harratina short nuzzled him, making him blush at the strange, touchy feely contact.
"What's that?" He asked. "It's a nuzzle. It's how tigers, lions and cheetahs show they care." He short nuzzled her back.
Then they went back to their mothers. "Did you have fun? asked Lina. "Yeah, but it was tiring, because we played tag for hours." Lina cuddled her dark pup close to her.
"You're a good boy." She said warmly to him.
He remembered the short nuzzle from Harratina, and how it made him feel funny, it made him blush and get butterflies in his stomach.
He didn't what that feeling was, but it persisted throughout the day, whenever he thought of Harratina.**