Minat Pack

The sun is setting on the horizon as Murphy, the silver-fade Kumba, walks back to his parent’s den. He was still quite young, not an adult yet, in the middle of learning how to sustain himself on his own. His father teaches him how to fight against other Salikos, while his mother shows him her hunting techniques. He loves his parents but cannot stand living with them any longer. He just wants to leave and find a territory on his own, hunt his own prey and just do whatever he wants with no one around judging him.

He has a strong need for freedom and self realization, which most other Kumbas don’t share. And because of his rare fur color, he’s often getting strange looks from outsiders coming across him. They live in the middle of the desert, which makes it especially difficult for him to learn hunting there, as he’s usually only successful around rocks or during the night, when his fur melts together with the darkness.

He’s just returning from the waterhole where he refreshed and cleaned himself a bit. His fur still has a few glittering water droplets in it, which despite the location, don’t dry that fast because the sun isn’t strong enough anymore. Lately the nights had become quite cold in comparison to the days, which is why Murphy prefers to stay close to the den, so he’s always able to retreat into the pleasantly temperated cave he calls home.

The male jumps on the rocks on top of the cave and sits down, watching the sun go down.

«This is the direction I’ll go to when I leave. Towards the sun» he says quietly to himself, looking now at the dark blue sky

«Sounds like a plan.»

A strange voice is coming from below the rocks. He didn’t expect anyone to be there, so he jumps in surprise and assumes a defensive stance.

«Whoa! Slow there, Parbalant!»

Another young Kumba with grey colored fur jumps onto the rocks and sits down next to him. It’s a female and she seems about the same age as Murphy.

«I’m Eris. Who are you?»

He studies her for a minute, then answers her.

«The name’s Murphy, but you can call me Murph.»

«That’s not a whole lot shorter, is it?»

«Uh…guess not.»

«Well whatever. I don’t have a nickname, so just call me Eris an that’s it.»

He nods, then checks her from top to bottom and back up again.

«We’re both the same color, I can’t believe it!«

«So..?»

«So nothing. It’s neat! I thought I was weird for being so different than everyone else, but I’m obviously not alone.»

«Is it bothering you that much what others think?»

Bewildered the young male stares at her. He doesn’t know how to answer this question, but the female still nods in understanding, then stands up and turns around to leave.

«That’s how it is for most Salikos. I don’t care what others think, I’m going my own way, doing my own thing.»

«What about your parents? Do you not care what they think either?»

She hesitates for a second, then answers through her teeth before walking away:

«They’re gone, that’s all you need to know.»

«Wait up! I wanna keep talking to you!»

He jumps to his feet.

«I should leave…»

«Why, you gotta be somewhere?»

He sounds more spiteful than he intends to and the female winces. She turns to him and get so close that their whiskers slightly touch each others. Her turmaline eyes stares deep into his grey ones, her gaze fierce, but he can see he hurt her feelings.

«I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to–»

«Oh sure you didn’t.»

«Hey, I apologized! What do you want from me?!»

«By now I don’t expect anything from anyone anymore. It’s always the same anyway.»

Murphy is quite irritated now, thinking about chasing her away, but he breathes deep and sits back down again, just looking at her.

«You’re pretty.»

«Wh…what?»

«I said you’re pretty. I don’t know why I am so mean to you, I don’t really know you yet, but I’m sure we can get along. If we both put our pride aside somehow.»

She looks at him speechlessly.

«Of course you can just walk away again if you want to, I won’t stop you. But I know I’d really hate me for not trying at all, so please, stay a while longer.»

Eris still remains there quietly, not knowing what to say. The fur on her neck stands on edge, not because she’s mad, but because she feels flattered. Her tail is brushing from side to side in excitement.

«Okay.»

They keep talking for a bit until the moon shines brightly above them. Suddenly a voice sounds from behind the male.

«Murph, where are you?»

«Uh oh. Hide, quickly!»

He pushes Eris into the shade of a rock and whirls around.»

«I’m here, dad!»

Voltaire walks over to him and studies him with a close look.

«Who did you talk to?»

«Uhh…nobody. I was just talking to a lizard that ran past. Really showed him who’s boss.»

He answers with a lopsided sneer and his father squints at him.

«Since when do you talk to animals? You shouldn’t become friends with prey, one day you might decide not to hunt or eat it anymore.»

«That won’t happen.»

«Well, I’ll check the territory border to the south and when I come back I want you to be in our burrow, you got me?»

«Yes.»

«Alright then.»

The tall, striped Kumba walks away into the night. He neither saw or smelled the strange jill thankfully, as her fur hid her well and the wind was going in a convenient direction. After a few moments, Eris reemerges from the darkness and looks at Murphy confusedly.

«What’s wrong with your father?»

«Nothing wrong with him. What do you mean?»

«His teeth. I’ve never seen anything like that before! He’s scaring me…»

Murphy isn’t sure if he should try to comfort her or be offended. His rage builds up again.

«You know what–?!»

She quickly licks his cheek – a small kiss. The silver Kumba immediately loses his voice and blanks out. She looks at him, smiling.

«What?»

«Wh..What do you mean, ‘what’?»

«You said ‘you know what’, but didn’t finish your sentence.»

«Oh uh…nothing.»

«Okay..? And why did you want me to hide? Does your folk not like strangers?»

«Well yeah, a bit, but I don’t really know why I wanted you to hide, to be honest. I guess I just wanted to, like, keep you for myself. My secret, you know?»

«You think someone will steal me away from you?» She giggles. «I’m not yours.»

«Not yet anyway.»

He smirks and raises an eyebrow at her. She slowly shakes her head and answers sarcastically.

«Smooth. Well, I REALLY need to go now. Will we see each other again?»

«I promise you we will.»

The both smile and happily wag their tails. Then Eris turns around and runs off. Murphy is completely stunned as he walks back to his den. He lays down next to his mother, who was already asleep, and thinks about the mysterious beauty that stumbled into his life just like that.

A couple weeks go by and they got a bit older. The two Salikos have been meeting each other in secret quite often. Either Eris went back to him or he tried to find her, though they never met at the same place twice and she always covered her tracks and smell so Voltaire or Basheera wouldn’t know she’s there.

They kept talking about this and that, Kydos and Kumbas, wanting to leave that place, go on adventures, be free and how they could never hunt during the day.

Occasionally they also got into arguments, since they both are pretty stubborn and passionate minds, that often rub each other the wrong way. But in the end they always managed to put their differences aside and make up again.

It’s another usual night. They agreed to meet again that day and Eris is already waiting at the oasis where they are supposed to find each other. She’s been waiting for quite a while and almost decides to storm off, when a grey shape appears on the peak of a closeby dune. The male runs towards her, sliding down most of the way from the dune and wearily reaches her.

«Sorry *gasp* my father wouldn’t let me go. He kept telling me something he considered important…but I don’t know what, I didn’t pay attention.» He grins at her.

«Gosh you stupid hob. You don’t know what’s good for yourself, huh?» She teases him, then rubs his mane with her paw until it’s completely tousled. He presses his lips together in dismay and tries to fix his mane while she laughs at him.

«Don’t worry Murph, you always look good anyway!»

The male blushes a bit but hides that fact behind his mane that’s now hanging down in front of his face.

«You sure about that?»

She keeps giggling and helps him fix it.

«Here Eris, I thought you might be hungry so I brought you a Jerboa that I caught earlier today.»

He puts the small mammal in front of her paws.

«Well, I already ate but we can share it if you want?»

«Sure!»

Together they eat the prey and then groom each other, telling the other one stories and thoughts in the meantime.

Time goes by and the moon rises high to the night sky, shining very bright that day, lighting up the whole area.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, Murphy notices someone standing on the dune where he appeared earlier. The moonlight from behind the stranger only lightens up the edges of his silhouette, but neither of the two can see who it is. It makes wide leaps towards them, reaching them in no time at all, until the young Salikos recognize Voltaire stopping his dash shortly in front of them.

«I knew it. I knew something was off about you, Murph! Who’s this jill, huh?!»

Eris walks towards the furious male, but her friend runs past her and stands between his father and her.

«None of your business.»

The males look at each other with stern gazes.

«Stop it, both of you! My name is Eris. I’m a loner.»

Voltaire snorts scornfully.

«A loner! How could you ever think it is a good idea to just run off with a loner?! She could’ve easily slit your throat in an inattentive moment!»

«But she didn’t, okay?! I really like her.»

«You’re my one and only whelp, Murph. I won’t lose you to this obscure jill!»

«Well like I said, it’s none of your business. Because I’m not coming home anymore! I’m old enough to find my own place in this world and you won’t stop me!»

Voltaire snarls and exposes his long, white teeth.

«Just watch me…»

The Vampire-male jumps at the unaware female next to them and snaps at her throat, but she reacts quickly and keeps him away with her hind legs. With her front claws she tries to slash his stomach, but cannot get a good hit. Voltaire’s teeth are very close to her now – she feels his warm breath on her face, a cold shiver runs over her back and her fur stands on edge.

Then Murphy jumps in and rips his father off of her, pinning him to the ground, but the more experienced and taller male easily pushes his son away and gets back up. Now the brown hob attacks him, while Eris is still lying on the ground, coughing and panting from the exhaustion of fending off the assault.

Voltaire runs at the fade male, but he quickly jumps to the side. Then one more time, with the same result. It almost looks as if they’re dancing with each other, until the older one calls out in madness.

«STAND STILL AND FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!!»

One last time he dashes at the younger one, who dodges out of the way, and realizes too late that the water of the oasis was right behind his son. With a loud splash the striped one falls into the water and struggles to keep on top, not being able to swim very well. The he finds ground with his feet and gets back out, water dripping from his fur. He looks thin and weak with his wet fur sticking to his body, but the muscles underneath are still showing. He’s obviously not defeated yet.

Slowly he walks towards his son and stops right before him, breathing heavily. He exposes his teeth one more time…

...and then shakes the water out of his fur, drenching the fade Kumba as well, then he laughs.

«Nice work boy, guess I was able to teach you something after all.»

«…What?»

«I wanted to see if you could defend yourself, especially against someone you trust and don’t want to hurt. I’m sure you’d easily be able to outmatch a stranger, but me?»

Eris walks over, squinting her eyes at the heat colored male.

«So this was all a test?»

«Exactly. I’ve been following and watching both of you for quite a while. I knew someday you’d leave but I couldn’t let you go without one last brawling lesson. Use your surroundings and don’t let yourself fool from anyone, not even the ones you trust.»

He makes a quick side-glance at the female, then turns around and walks back.

«Stop by occasionally if you’re around, alright? Your mother will be worried sick otherwise. And Girl?»

«Yes?» She steps a bit closer

«You take good care of him, alright? He’s all I have.»

Then he disappears behind the sandy summit.

They look at each other, both confused but glad and start walking into the direction where they’ve watched the sun set so many evenings before.

Eris carefully licks over the other one’s shoulder and he returns the gesture by softly licking her ear. Then she grins and speaks:

«You know…you fight like a girl.»