Chapter Two: Intruder!
Blinded by sudden tears, Ramla shut her eyes and kept running. She felt the smooth grass turn to dust under her paws. Her own sobbing breaths filled her ears. Small pebbles caught in her pads and she winced, still not opening her eyes. Then she felt the ground disappear from beneath her, and she was tumbling head over heels down a steep incline. Ramla's eyes flew open just in time to see a flash of tawny-colored pelt before she sailed across it. She landed in the dirt, completely winded and still with tear streaks on her face.
"Hey – are you okay?" So the tawny-pelted animal was another cub. He crept up beside her and peered into her eyes. "I saw you rolling down the hill there, but I didn't have enough time to get out of the way."
Ramla shook her head slightly, getting the dust out of her eyes. "I'm sorry about that," she said quietly, not looking at him. She didn't like it when anyone saw her cry, most of all a stranger. What would he think?
But the new cub wouldn't give up. "Hey," he said again, pawing her shoulder gently. "Hey, are you all right?"
"I'm FINE!" she burst out, leaping to her feet in the same instant. The cub backed off immediately.
"S-sorry," he said, having somersaulted backwards to put distance between them. "I-I didn't mean to – I mean I just – sorry."
Ramla took a shaky breath and sat down, staring at her paws. "No… I'm sorry," she confessed. "I wasn't watching where I was going, it's my fault."
Now that she looked at him, the cub seemed very intriguing to her. His coat was a dusty shade of tawny, probably from rolling in the dust just now. His belly and tail were a bit darker brown, and a small scruff of fur flopped over partially into his eyes. His eyes… his eyes which were a mesmerizing olive green. They took Ramla's breath away even as she sat there looking at him.
The cub fidgeted with his paws in the dirt. "I'm Mosi," he said finally, looking up at her shyly, and Ramla realized she was sitting as her father had taught her to all these years. "Sit royally, with your head up, chest out, ears erect and attentive, and no one will ever look down on you," he'd said. She'd never listened, apparently, until now. This cub was intimidated by her stance. She relaxed almost immediately.
"I'm Ramla," she stated proudly. "Where are you from?"
Mosi gave her another shifty look. "Nowhere," he said dully, looking at the ground. Ramla walked closer and sat down again. She didn't want him to be afraid.
"Do you need a home? You could live with me, you know, we have plenty of room at home for someone else—"
"No thank you," he said, quietly and firmly at the same time. "I don't have a pride of my own, and it wouldn't feel right to intrude like that, so I think—"
A low growl stopped Mosi in his tracks, and Ramla looked around. Jelani stood at the top of the ridge, flanked by Chima and Jengo, another of his friends. He cleared the hill in a single leap and landed between her and Mosi. Chima and Jengo stayed where they were, content to watch.
Jelani glared at the newcomer. "Stay away from my sister, you," he spat. Mosi backed away slowly, his eyes wary but unafraid. Ramla turned on her brother. "Jelani, what's your problem? We just met, there's nothing wrong with –"
"Go home, Ramla," he ordered, still watching Mosi. "Mom's worried sick about you, you're lucky she hasn't said anything about you getting punished yet."
Chima and Jengo still stood watching from above, so there was nothing Ramla could really do to defend herself or her new friend. "Fine," she growled. The pair clambered back up the hill, and Jelani turned back to look at Mosi one last time.
"Don't come back here again, outsider," he snarled. Mosi's eyes flicked from Jelani to Ramla, filled with confusion and sadness. But he spun and took off across the desert all the same.
A/N: sorry it's not as long as the first one, I'm still working on fleshing everything out, so it'll probably be kind of slow posting for awhile. Bear with me and thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome!
Ash
