Hello everyone, Gulefritz here.
Sorry for not updating before now but I've not been able to do it before now. School, projects, heat and more prevented me, but here it is. Chapter 12, Life of Kiali.
In this chapter we will return to Mpenda, the leopard captured by the panther Tambo, see what happened to him, but also know a little more about Amani.
With that out of the way. Lets get on with the show.
Mpenda did not know if it was day or night. He did not know for how long he had stayed inside the dark cave. All he knew was that he was hungry, thirsty and wanted to get out of the cave. He would do anything to get out, but he was to afraid and to small to get past the guard at the cave entrance.
In the time he had been captured had his life been turned around. Amani had made sure that he was not alone, or so he thought, as his captor, the black panther Tambo, had come to the cave on a regular basis and done damage that Mosi could only dream about.
Every time the panther came, he did something new to try and break the leopard. Last time he went with the usual beating, hitting him with his paws while his claws were sheeted. Mpenda hated that, but not because of the way he beat him, but because that he mocked him while doing it.
Every time the panther laughed at him, Mpenda felt as something brewed within him. He wanted to strike back at Tambo with every fiber in his body. He wanted to show that he was not some small cub anyone can push around.
Today was the day Mpenda would show Tambo just that.
Mpenda lied down behind a rock, waiting in the dark, for the panther to arrive. He lied down low and unsheathed his claws, ready to pounce on the waiting back of an unsuspecting Tambo.
The black panther walked inside of the cave and were looking around for the leopard. He could hear the small laugh coming from him, probably believing the leopard managed to escape. Tambo looks around the cave and sniffs the air. He looks in Mpenda's direction.
It was now or never.
Mpenda pushed off the ground, using the nearby wall to support his jump. He jumped high and aimed for Tambo's back.
The reaction from the panther was not what Mpenda had hoped for. He had hoped to at least scare the panther, but Tambo saw him jump and was therefore ready to intervene in the jump. The panther retaliated, and he retaliated hard.
He hit the leopard with his right paw and send him flying backwards, propelling him into the cave wall. Normally Mpenda would have whimpered, lied down on the ground, but this time enough was enough.
Mpenda growled and readied himself to attack the older panther. He leapt and tried to strike him as hard as possible and managed to land a hit, but the hit did nothing. Tambo was too big of an opponent, and Mpenda was a too young of a fighter to be able to do anything.
Tambo had to admit that he liked the spirit of the small leopard. The leopard was terrified in the start, literally everything scared the young leopard, just like everything once scared Tambo. Now, he fought back when the panther came to do harm.
Tambo saw much of himself in the younger leopard. Back when he grew up, would he be bullied around by his older siblings, mostly from Amani. They believed him to be the runt of the group as he was the youngest and the smallest of the litter, but he showed them all wrong.
With time he grew strong and while his brothers were overconfident in their abilities, would he grow stronger. With time he passed every one of them, except for Amani. The two panthers share a rivalry ever since then, a rivalry where Amani had the upper hand, for now.
Focusing back on the leopard, Tambo had pinned down Mpenda using his superior weight and size. He grinned at the struggling leopard and would eventually let him go, much Mpenda's surprise. Tambo moved back from Mpenda and lied down on the ground, blocking him from leaving the cave.
Tambo growled at Mpenda, who did not back down Tambo smirked.
"I see you have finally grown a spine!"
Mpenda remained silent, trying to get his breath back from the short battle with the panther. This was odd, usually Tambo would beat him up until he could do literally nothing but lick his wounds all day and then warn him he would return later. This sudden change in the behavior from the panther worried Mpenda.
"I enjoy seeing the fight in you cub. Tell me, what is your name?"
Mpenda did not reply immediately and remained silent, but when Tambo growled and showed his fangs would he almost immediately reply to the panther.
"Mpenda"
Tambo smiled, which actually made Mpenda even more worried. What plans did the panther have for him now? Tambo saw the worried expression and spoke up.
"When Amani first laid eyes on you, were you unable to speak in full sentences. When Delilah found you were you unable to speak in full sentences, heck when I saw you, were you unable to speak in full sentences. Now you reply without stuttering. Your fighting spirit grows"
Silence ensued but was short lived as Tambo spoke again.
"Here in the jungle you either live or perish. Now who do you think will live and be able to continue their life in the next generation?"
Mpenda shook his head, unsure of what would be the answer. When Tambo looked at the leopard with a glare, would the leopard answer with the first thing he could think of.
"The S-Str- I mean the Strong"
Tambo shook his head.
"Being strong is a good thing and will aid you immensely. No, the one who is capable of adaption is the one who will survive and live on in the next generation. If you are unable to adapt to the harshness of the jungle, will you not be able to live for long, do you understand me?"
Mpenda listened and came to nod at the panther. But what was the panther playing at? Did Amani want him to live or something? He was after all the panther's prisoner. Mpenda were still pondering this, when Tambo spoke again.
"This cave is relatively small, and Delilah is lacking someone to fight with. Follow me Mpenda"
With that Tambo rose from the ground and looked around before turning to the cave entrance. He spoke to the panther and leopard there who were guarding the entrance. They were both skeptical at the start but decided to run when Tambo unsheathed his claws. He looked back at the leopard.
"Are you coming or what?"
Mpenda rose from the ground and followed the panther. He did not know what the panther had planned, but he better follow him. He walked outside of the cave and the sight outside immediately stunned him.
Tambo's hideout laid right next to the most amazing waterfall the leopard had ever seen. The caves were in the rocks right next to where the water fell from. The caves which housed the panther and his packs were all large. The ones near the bottom of the mountain side looked to be smaller, used primarily by the weaker of the pack, while the bigger panthers or leopards had the top caves.
Mpenda's prison cave was at the foot of the mountainside.
He looked to where Tambo was taking him and found that he was receiving both curious views and glares from the other felines in the area. The young and more curious ones wanted to see how a pride lander looked like, having heard of them from tales from beyond the jungle. Most of them were surprised at how small Mpenda was, believing him to be older than he was.
The older ones clearly disliked him as they despised most outlanders. Most of them had battle scars, some coming from fighting the other groups around the jungle but some from fighting Askari, who they all knew was a pride land lion.
Tambo stopped by the mountainside and jumped up into the air. Mpenda stood back amazed at what the panther just did. The cave was high up in the air, at least ten or twelve meters, and Tambo jumped all the way up there in no more than four jumps, mostly without trouble. The panther turned back to look down at the leopard, signaling for him to climb up the side.
"Do not make me carry you up here outlander. The climb is not as hard as you think!"
Mpenda could hear laughter and giggling from behind him. Several of the other felines believed him to weak to climb up the mountainside, already believing him weak. He could not explain it, but this angered the cub.
Mpenda immediately started climbing up the mountain, using his leopard instincts and experience to walk on narrow Stoneridge and jumping from platform to platform. In a short amount of time would the leopard be at the top of the wall, jumping up right next to Tambo. Mpenda looked back at where the laughing felines stood only to find them all gone.
Tambo lightly whacked the back of Mpenda's head with his paw not putting power behind the blow. Mpenda turned to look at the panther who was looking proud at the leopard.
"See, not as hard as you or they thought! Seems you are stronger than most of the lower felines think. Now come, I know one who would like to meet you"
With that the two of them entered a rather small cave. Inside was the stronger of the youth of Amani's pack. Mpenda could see several groups of young animals, some bigger and some smaller than himself. They were all playing, tagging each other or pouncing on each other. Mpenda could not help but smile, as it reminded him of his time with Akali.
But his smile immediately vanished as he remembered his friend. He did not know what had happened to her. Was she okay? Was she looking for him? He was so confused, and he missed her a lot.
His thinking stopped when Tambo suddenly stopped and Mpenda had almost no time to react if he did not want to collide with the panther, which he certainly did not want to. He looked at the panther before looking around, noticing several of the smaller felines looked up at Tambo with awe and curiosity, but also noted that a few of them looked at him, some laughing.
"Propably thinking about how weak I am"
Mpenda thought to himself. Once again, his thoughts were cut short when Tambo suddenly yelled out.
"Delilah! Where are you? I got someone you'd like to meet"
As if on que a female black panther cub looked up from the other side of a rock. Only her head was visible but Mpenda immediately recognized her, it was the panther who lead him into the jungle, when Tambo captured him.
"Oh! Hey Tambo! Finally got time to see me again? Don't you have a leopard to harass"
Tambo growled for a moment but soon enough he stopped. He shook his head and let out a sigh.
"You know Amani needs me to lead the packs. Now, I am going on another raid and I know you need someone to play with to not go insane. Therefore, I bring you Mpenda, the Pridelands leopard
Immediately Delilah looks more interested, looking past Tambo directly at Mpenda. She looks him over before looking back to the panther.
"Are you sure he is strong and fierce enough for me Tambo? You know I can be quite... fierce"
Tambo smirked and nodded at Delilah.
"I would not bring him here if I did not believe so. Mpenda! Come and meet Delilah"
Immediately the leopard rushed forward, startled at the sudden yell. Delilah giggled at the leopard, finding it funny how he followed the commands of the panther. She focuses her sight on the leopard as he gets closer.
"So, your name is Mpenda. I remember you from the jungle. Now, come, we are going for a game of tag"
With that Delilah ran into the cave. Mpenda stands back unsure of what to do. He looks to his right as he hears the loud sigh Tambo lead out.
"I think you are supposed to catch her. Now go! I will come and get you later"
Mpenda nodded and ran into the cave, trying to follow the female panther. He runs into a part of the cave seemingly unused by the other felines of the pack. He stopped for a moment trying to see if he could find the panther but found it impossible. Her fur color made it impossible for him to see her in the dark.
Suddenly he felt weight on his back as someone pounced on him from the dark. Startled at first, Mpenda retaliated immediately rolling to the side, wrestling with his would-be attacker. They would roll on the ground for some time before he would end up pinned down by his attacker.
"Well, that was fun!"
Mpenda looks better at the felines pinning him down and sees that it is Delilah pinning him down.
"I thought I was supposed to catch you"
Delilah laughed at him, touching his chin with her right paw smirking down at him.
"Yes, you were supposed to, but what fun would there be in that. You need to learn that here in the jungle, not everything is as it looks like. You were supposed to catch me, but I caught you instead"
Mpenda could only nod.
"I see, now will you get off me?"
Delilah smirked once more, lowering her head down to his ear.
"Make me pride lander"
With that the two of them started wrestling on the ground again. Delilah was an experienced fighter and were a lot of trouble for Mpenda, but the leopard was determined. He would break free from her grip and pin her down.
The struggle would remain for some time before Mpenda finally breaks free from her grip. He pants as it demanded a lot of energy on his part, but he broke free. Delilah smiled at him and turned to look away from him.
"Now you run. I'll even give you a fifteen second head start"
Mpenda did as she said and immediately started running.
The two of them would hunt each other for hours on end. At times Mpenda would be able to pin her down, each time would she break free from under him, using simple tricks. The two of them would soon find out they both like each other's company, when it comes to playing.
Mpenda had to admit, this panther was as good as playing tag as Kiali, if not better. Mpenda enjoyed being physical and being able to play again and complained when Tambo came back to get him back to his cave.
Tambo smiled at the situation. He would soon enough have the small leopard on his side. If he played his cards right would he soon have another ally against Amani. Soon enough he would have a new son.
Here I end Life of Kiali Chapter 12. Tell me what you liked/disliked.
I will try to see if I can make the next update soon, but we will have to see about this.