A/N: This came to me while listening to Animal I've Become by Three Days Grace, while making Buttercream icing, which when made with butter tastes exactly like that from Betty Crocker and every other brand that sells packaged icing. If anyone can tell me correctly who the animals are - which should be pretty easy, gets my next story dedicated to them.
She was just like a fawn who was always reluctant to drink from the water hole, even if it meant she'd stay alive with just the single drink.
She would stay in the back watching as others took their long-awaited first drinks of the morning, she would wait until she was sure she was out of harm's way, making sure she was protected when she would finally let her guard down for the brief moments it would take her to quench her thrist.
She knew what others didnt, an aligator lurked in the murky waters, who was higher on the food chain than the lion and the zebra who drank without watching.
The lion knew no one could hurt him, he was too quick for that, always looked out for himself even if that meant hurting others. All the other animals knew better to mess with the lion, he was better in everything, smarter, quicker, more willing to adapt.
The zebra on the other hand, was good at adapting, she sometimes let her curiousity think for her instead of head, and so she was hurt more often then the rest. A damaged leg there, a scratch on the behind there. In a lot of ways the fawn was smarter than her, and waited until the aligator snapped its jaws at the first animal who always dared for an early morning dip - the hyenna.
He would always go out of his way to protect others, always going after what he wanted, even it if meant getting caught in between the aligator's jaws, as the mouth crushed down. But he was lucky and jumped back a few seconds before the aligator attacked, nearly escaping without a scratch. This made the other animals laugh and go on about their business.
The fawn however watched on when the hyenna thought no one was watching, the look of disappoinment would cross his features and sometimes the look of longing. For the hyenna had feelings too, and was hurt when everyone laughed, he wanted to join along with them but he was too afraid and trying to get his heart rate back to normal. He did this for one reason, or one animal only. The fawn.
He did this to show her that he wasnt afraid when deep down he was shaking, playing a front and allowing her to take a drink that she desperately needed. None of the other animals knew this however and he continuiously did this, even with out the knowledge of the fawn. He knew what he was doing, and if by doing this gave her that small chance, then just once she would see it and be grateful, or she could ignore it. Either way he didnt care because he knew he was doing it and that's all that mattered.
The giraffe was admired for his height, and his abilitly to charm everyone, whether they knew it or not. He was an all around giraffe and more than once had offered to take the precaution to fawn so she could drink but she declined and moved away. He had caught her more than once admiring the lion, who didnt; he was everything anyone could want to be. But she always laughed at the hyennas antics. And for that it pained him to know that he would never fit into the equation because he was different.
The panther moved along the banks watching as the zebra stood guard as her off-spring took its turn, the lion sat at the edge licking himself, licking the blood of last nights dinner off his paws. Next his gaze switched to the fawn who was making her way closer to the watering hole the need to drink becoming too serious to ignore now.
The hyenna was once again trying to get the fawn's attention who kept wandering over to the lion who was still grooming himself unaware of the fawns looks. The lion knew the mix-breeding was not allowed and would be disasterious if it did, he kept to himself so he couldnt be blamed if anything went wrong but while no one else thought he was paying attention, he was with more than just the observant skills of listening, he watched the body language and the condition of whom he was focusing on.
The panther had his own mate and things were good, to an extent things were falling apart around them, she complained that he never had enough time for her, which in reality it was the truth, he was off busy hunting and sleeping, saving his energy for the next kill. The zebra caught the panther's eye, and the panther always looking for food, knew that one day he would have no choice but to kill her or her off-spring, maybe both. He would eventually have kill every other animal at the watering hole. Because in the forest, jungle or desert where ever they were it was every person - animal for themselves.
And if they didn't figure out a way to outsmart the alligator who was always just one step ahead, they were going to die of thirst.
A/N: If you didn't get it the watering hole represents the quest for love, how we all need it to survive.