After a few months she was already packing more than a bit of pounds and by this time she looked like a NORMAL sized cheetah. Her form was perfect and now it looked ...like a common cheetah's body..She grunted.. and was rather upset about it.. that her perfect body.. like another had told her.. and she wouldn't believe.. She was pregnant. And NOT happy...

Her ears planted back as she curled up in a ball near den she had with Linje. He was ALWAYS there but today.. she gave him a task to go on a goosechase over so she could have some alone time. She laid there.. not tired.. but almost as if she were being lazy.. but she was just there. Bored out of her mind and hoping to go see Enzi.. to make sure he was ok in the pride lands that she was marking.. She already had put her scent all around it.. and Enzi made a lil ugly looking shrine of dead animals in front .. so he sorta helped out..

Her head moved to the side of the rock that was smoothest.. and looked blankly in to the landscape that brought her eyes more of a bore than before. She wasn't one for touching moments in scenes.. and forests..Oceans. It was all a waste of time for her and she really didn't need that. She was soon to give birth ... maybe in a week or so.. but her form no matter how much she fretted didn't look THAT different. She was full term but still she looked like a normal cheetah with a TINY gut that she THOUGHT was HUGE~ and messing up her beautiful form. She hadn't eaten in so long.. She couldn't even muster up energy for that.. like if these buggers SAPPED away all her precious energy... She still could curl a male around her tail in a snap.. like Linje when he found she was pregnant. Something she will now use.. for a later time but with Linje always around..

No males would get near and that was the worst of it all.. Sometimes. She left and came back.. going to see Dysi.. or Enzi out in her soon to be pride lands.. She couldn't stay TOO long but Enzi was a good.. guard dog. So to say. He'd find her in minutes if anything were wrong. Well. Maybe days. Enzi was a bit slow. The only thing that gave her joy was that these children.. were Dysi's cubs.. Oh.. that was the only thing that made her have chills go down her spine. What would he say now that she was pregnant? Would he stay with her and the cubs? She had a lot of problems for such a small cheetah.

Normally she was shorter.. and slimmer than most cheetah females fully grown. Her curves were maximized.. and perfect with dancing and training from her adoptive mother. She was bred to be amazingly attractive.. and blended well with water and snow based areas..

But this.. in a place where she was not good at was where their den was and it was not pretty. It dragged her down and hunting alone wouldn't work for her unless she went out in to the long grass.. The sun was at it's highest now.. and it was sunbathing that kept her occupied.. And made her relax just a tad more.. Her tail curling.. in and out in a tantalizing way..


Mananakbo sniffed the air. He'd been on the run for weeks now, though it felt longer, more like months or years. It was a good thing, he thought bitterly, that he couldn't see himself, for he probably wouldn't be able to recognize the cheetah he saw anyway. His coat was dusty and somewhat ragged, having been neglected in favor of the more pressing need to put distance between himself and his former pride's lands. The going, however, had been hard, and the body beneath the fur was thin even for one of his species - hunting was difficult with a leg injured as his was. So far he had been subsisting on whatever he could scavenge from others' kills before the actual hunter could come along and chase him off.

"How the mighty have fallen," he muttered very, very softly. He rarely spoke lately, having no companion to address and being generally afraid to let his voice be heard anyway. He was positive that they would be coming for him, and he didn't want anyone to have any chance of recognizing him and pointing them in the right direction. Being on the losing side of a rebellion was an unfortunate thing indeed. His injured leg served as a constant, painful reminder of that fact.

In all honesty, his leg did not pain him as much as it first did, and it was somehow healing well in spite of the fact that he didn't take care of it as he knew he ought. Proper care would have involved rest and inactivity and scrupulous cleanliness, and he hadn't the time or luxury to devote himself to that sort of regimen. He had to get as far away from his former home as he could before anyone came looking for him. It wasn't as though a wounded cheetah was too fast to catch or too difficult to track.

He knew, because he'd been worrying about it from the beginning, that his tracks were distinctive, even when running. He favored his wounded leg, which slowed him considerably and also made unusual impressions in the ground. Even walking, he had to place that paw gingerly, though he could almost pass for one uninjured at this point in his convalescence, if he was allowed to hold still. He didn't hold still much, though. If he remained stationary, he would be captured, brought back, and enslaved. Or maybe he'd just be killed. He didn't care for either option.

He sniffed again. Definitely cheetah scent, but unfamiliar. Maybe not an enemy, but it would be better not to run into the stranger at all. With an inward groan he dropped into a crouch and continued ahead, making much slower progress that he hoped was at least more stealthy as well. Really, though, creatures with legs as long as his were not meant for crouching and slinking, and even at the best of times the gait was awkward. Injured, it was torture. He hoped to get through this territory soon.


Nyoka.. was in a lazy daze by now. Yawning.. but her stomach was huge and was ready to pop any minute. Well. For HER it seemed huge however. Others just looked like she ate a heft meal maybe. She groaned.. and flopped her face on the rock she laid. Looking out with bored eyes until she saw a shift.. Nyoka. Was NOT dumb and had her sneaky ways one to many of times.. and it seemed that someone was lurking in her grounds.

But still. Laid there undisturbed except for the minor pains she was experiencing from her..cubs. Arg.. If she was done and over with it she could finally get back to her beauty. She watched.. though in pain.. the cheetah lifted her ears up. "You'll have to do better." She announced.. and rolled her eyes at the failure... as she clearly saw the red against the green bushes.. and trees.. EVen in the distance.. when she looked out.. at her boring familiar landscape.. she'd know it by heart. One wrong shadow could trigger this cheetah's suspicion. Even now that she was more pregnant then ever.. she was TOO watched over and tended to do anything else but watch. Of course.. she wasn't getting up. Not unless the animal showed itself. After pin pointing his location.. she idly watch to see what his next move was and how he would make it. Would she have to use force? Would she have to get up? hopefully not.. or if he didn't show himself soon.. She'd have to try a different approach but she was not agreeing to break anything for attention THIS time around. That's for sure.

Her tail, as if it were awaiting the challenge.. curled in.. and out as the time went by minute by minute. Then it padded from side to side.. tempting... tempting to de-tach from the body and go out looking for the challenge itself.. Sometimes.. Nyoka really thought that her tail had really.. a mind of its own and that it even surpassed and surprised her.

Mana froze when a female voice called out to him that he would have to do better. He cringed, quickly weighing his options. Fighting was not an option. He'd had enough of that to last a lifetime it seemed. Running wasn't really an option, either, if the voice belonged to that other cheetah he'd smelled. Unless she was nursing a similar injury, she'd quickly outpace him and then she'd also be angry that he'd tried to flee, possibly, which would lead to fighting. His third option was to hide and hope she didn't come in search of him. That one was worse, even than the first two. So, really, there was only one acceptable option.

He rose painfully from his awkward crouch to stand head and shoulders above the grasses. His coloration wasn't exactly conducive to stealth. His flame colored forequarters stood out in any light but twilight, when everything turned greyish purple no matter what color it truly was, and the white on his tail was attention-getting even in the dark. All that was easily hidden with dirt, of course, but Mana wasn't keen on the idea of covering himself with dirt and risking infecting his wound.

"I'm sorry," he called as he looked around for the female addressing him. It was vitally important that he figure out where she was. "I'm just passing through. I swear I mean you no harm."

Mana didn't mention that he was injured, and therefore in no position to do anyone any harm anyway. He saw no reason to advertise that particular weakness. Just because he didn't recognize this voice as belonging to one of his former pridemates didn't mean she didn't have the potential to be a threat. If he could just bluff his way through this encounter, that'd be fine. Maybe he could even get permission to hunt on these lands. They looked like they'd be decent hunting grounds.

At last his blue gaze lighted on the speaker, a cheetah as poorly suited to camouflage as he was, though in a totally different color scheme. She had some pleasant curves to her that he thought confirmed his assessment of the lands as fertile hunting grounds. His tail twitched and his mouth watered at the thought of a real meal. Gods and spirits, he was hungry. Naturally, his stomach chose to rumble to emphasize his thoughts. He ignored it.

She was... unamused. But at least it was a male.. she rolled her eyes once more. Lord. Men were dumb. "If you mean no harm then why do you hide~" She called.. she laid there. In a rather calm but irritated state...When he showed himself.. she rose her head just slightly, delicately.. and softly. Showing a very feminine creature.. Beauty was something this creature had in quantities.. Her curves, her slim frame and petite body.. and a very mischievous tail that told all about her if one looked the right way.

She slowly rose.. in an alluring way to taunt even the most straightest of men whom walked the line. A similar line she walked on.. but.. with her on it~ she would make waves from just one glance.. And even from a distance.. when her front body rose ... and gave that unmistakenable look.. the look that twisted countless males in her binding.. an unspoken bond.. That she also gave to a small cub that now fell in to the grasp of her pride. Without ever talking back to her.

The bond.. took different effects with different males.. some bended over backwards. Others fed her.. but this cheetah had many tricks up her sleeve.. and she always got what she wanted.. a lustful creature.. cunning ..hidden behind a soft smile.. and beauty.

Her face was soft.. and not yet did she show her curves to their full potential.. and the small TINY almost unnoticeable lump in the waist area.. she could pass as just eating.

"Why not come closer stranger.. I too mean no harm... but I will say.. I would like to know who you are." She stated..Almost serious but it was in a way like a female would talk.. detached from the real world of emotions.. trying to hide it by a soft tone in her voice.


Mana wasn't sure how to answer that question. She raised a valid point. The only answer he could think to give which wouldn't make him seem devious would expose his weakness. That, of course, would be to admit that he was hiding because he was hoping not to have harm visited upon him. He could not admit to that sort of weakness. He would rather fight to prove his strength. It already grated on him that he was running away and that he was so truly terrified by the consequences of being found and dragged back to live a slave's life. He wasn't going to go about advertising that he was injured and easy to victimize.

He decided not to answer her question. Instead he continued to stand very still, as though doing so would allow him to become invisible in her eyes. He knew it wouldn't. She'd already seen him, and judging by the fact that she was standing and coming toward him, he wasn't going to get off too easily. As Mana watched her approach, adrenaline flowing quickly through his body, urging him to either attack or run, his senses expanded to take in more of his surroundings and, in this case, more of her.

Her movements were like a seduction, and he could certainly appreciate them. However, he recognized that he wasn't in any position to do much more than that, which was a pretty effective damper for any lust he might have felt. Even if that was what she wanted from him, though somehow he doubted that was the case, Mana wasn't entirely sure he was up to the physical act of sex for the time being. It tended to require that a cheetah's entire body be in working order, and he couldn't quite make that claim. Just the same, he wasn't sure he would be able to refuse her if she said she wanted him to mate with her, regardless of his hunger and dirt and exhaustion and injury.

She didn't come much closer, but she did request that Mana come closer to her. He didn't want to, in spite of her assurances that she meant him no harm. Drawing nearer would increase the chances that she would notice his injury. In that case, what sensible predator wouldn't take advantage of another wounded predator? Still, he couldn't refuse her, and he found himself moving forward very slowly. His slow pace might have been interpreted as an attempt on his part to seem non-threatening, but that was only part of it. The majority of it was that he could place his feet more carefully and give the impression of walking normally.

"My name is..." he hesitated. Was it safe to give her his real name? In a split-second he decided he really had no choice. No other name came to his mind. "Mananakbo."

He didn't ask her name. He didn't think he would be staying long enough to make it worth his while to learn it. As soon as she finished whatever business she thought she had with him, he would be moving on, getting farther away from his former pride. He didn't even allow himself to think its name. He tried not to think about any of that, and now was hardly a good time to begin. He had to think about the corporeal world at the moment.

"I will leave your territory as soon as I am able," he added, hoping that would appease her.


Log from AIM

The cheetah's body soon came to a stop and stood tehre looking at him. Tilting her head and examining the creature. Slim. He looked fit.. But only her eyes looked him over. "Do you believe that you can come in to another's territory and leave with that broken foot." She broke her own paw before.. and knew how she walked.. though strong still. It was still unmistakenable to herself. She lifted her head. A moment. "Come.. if we stay here. I may not be able to heal you."

When she slowly walked up closer. Now knowing his name.. and knowning he can't just dart at her.. she made her way towards him slowly. Alluring as when she came in to so close to touch .. she looked up at him. The strength in those teal emerald eyes of hers.. Looking up to those blue eyes. A nice contrast to his body. Handsome non the less. Nudging his shoulder a bit as she touched it with her nose. "You can use me to lean on. There is a spring not too far from here.. and the possible to aid you there is more than likely." As she brushed her shoulder to his.. Ears planted with a smirk up at him. Her tail playfully tapping and then leaving then tapping at his tail a bit. "Nyoka." No need for further introduction til he fell in to her commands.

Mana held very still, his senses on high alert. From her attitude and her words, it seemed likely that she might actually be a danger to him. She could tell that he was injured, for one thing, and that was a risk. How had she known? He'd been careful. How had he given himself away? The thought distressed him. And yet she seemed interested in helping him. He couldn't help being suspicious of her motives.
His nerves made him less susceptible to Nyoka's alluring movements, and if he trembled at her nearness it was less a result of attraction than it was a result of anxiety. He didn't know what she was going to do, and couldn't bring himself to trust her completely. Not on such a short acquaintance. And the feeling he got that she was capable of manipulation didn't help much. He almost flinched when she nudged his shoulder.
"Thank you for your offer, but I can walk unaided," Mana said. He could. He had been for some time now. "What do you want in exchange for your assistance, Nyoka?"

"Nothing.." She stated. "Your no good to me broken anyhow. Right...?" Her ears went up. He was wary for her.. and his senses were doing right. But at the moment. She was pregnant and not being able to move as fast.. and not being able to do much of nothing gave her a vulerablity that she would not show to anyone. "Have it your way. Before long. It will stay like that if not treated." Dysi showed her kindness and treated her broken paw that she herself did to attract him. But more was created except a mere caring for. She slowly walked pasted him.. giving herself only one stride ahead of him so she could take him to the spring.. that was a watering hole for all in the vally. Where she normally caught prey. It wasn't out in the open.. so she was safe from Linje sneaking up and finding her with another male. He was.. zealous. In ways she ailed to run away from.

He was no good to her broken? Those words made him suspicious in spite of her assertion that she wanted nothing from him. And yet, oddly, Mana found he didn't mind the assumption that he would be of any use to Nyoka in the future, or that he would be around in the future to be useful to her. The implication that she was willing to help him for no immediate recompense and that she seemed interested in keeping him with her. Or something. He was still confused. She had to want something from him. He was an escaped rebel, a hunted cheetah. It was improbable that someone would just help him.
"I wasn't refusing treatment," Mana said huffily as he trailed after her. "I just don't need to lean on anyone. I've been managing on my own well enough."
And, naturally, as he said that fate had to step in and off its opinion of his confidence and ability. He misplaced his paw and set it on a stone that sent shooting pains up his entire leg. He dropped with a humiliated whimper, his injured forepaw tucked up to his chest. His teeth were gritted behind his lips. Gods and spirits, that hurt. He closed his blue eyes and forced himself to speak a set of words he was certain he would regret. However, he wasn't entirely certain he would be able to make it to a standing position, let alone to wherever it was Nyoka intended to take him, unless he spoke those much-hated words.
"Will you help me? It seems I spoke too soon." He was aiming for good-natured self-deprecation with his tone, but it came off closer to general irritation at the world.

She walked slowly.. but her head was up. Ears up.. She heard him. Such things didn't record in her mind.. of what was past. No.. she only looked to the future.. and with her belly.. slowly growing without suspicion.. she had become.. softer. JUST A TAD. But her ideals and thoughts on the matter was apparent. She WILL provail. Little did she think about when she heard hi stumble. Immediately she turned.. looked at him.. Looked him over as she came closer before nuzzling her head right under her arm. "Words are binding.. " She whispered as she didn't hesitate to help him up.. Then stood there for support.. Almost under his chest if her were to get up with her.. Her tail seemed to quiet down. Something was different bout it today.. but for now.. She would help this fello. She didn't have anything else to do. Restricted on all accounts because of Linje's worry that she'd overexert herself.

"Words are binding," Mana agreed softly, overhearing her. He couldn't help thinking how the gods and spirits seemed determined to make him eat his. Nearly every time he said something to the effect of 'I'll be fine' he found himself whimpering on the ground. He really had to learn to stop with the whimpering bit at least. That was just not manly at all.

As he leaned on her to regain his footing Mana looked at Nyoka. Really looked at her. He'd been trying to school himself not to react to the people he encountered based on the prejudices and conceptions he'd acquired with the Mizimu, but he couldn't help thinking that this female's coat was very blue. Blue was a soothing color, indicative of wisdom. She'd definitely spoken with wisdom so far. It had really been he who had spoken foolishly every time there were idiotic words spoken. That was not a thing he was proud of. He knew better, and he thought he'd learned to hold his tongue better than that. He was determined not to give the spirits any more cause to make him eat his words.

"Do you seek to bind me to you?" he asked, leaning more heavily on her than he realized. Simply to have the weight off his forepaw was a relief of unexpected proportions. He'd been taking care of the injury sporadically, keeping in mind the words of a strange, treacherous green lioness he'd met early on. He wasn't afraid it would rot off, but he couldn't afford to have infection set in.

"What would you do with me if I was yours?" His head felt oddly light. How long had it been since he slept or ate? Gods and spirits, he couldn't remember.

The support was nothing on her yet. She was pregnant yes.. but not enough to slow her down. She wasn't even swelled up or anything. She was merely herself.. for the very short days to come before she would swell up. She lifted him.. letting him lean as much on her as he wanted.. She was small but strong. Slowly walking.. and her head up like the leader she was to become. "Maybe.. would you want that?" She questioned him.. but her voice was almost as if to trance the other.

Her walked slowed down just a tad as he spoke.. The male honestly looked tired and drained.. Almost dilerious. "If I were.. to 'own' you. I would use you your strength and ear for many reasons.. many trials are to come for myself. A helpful aid wouldn't be chased away.. But again. Your no use to me in this condition." Which upon arriving she stopped and let him have the large stone where she usually laid on. It was in a sort of forest with lush greens.. the breezy air where animals played happily. Where the watering hole was secluded.. Linje wouldn't come without her here.. so a good place would be here to meet others that she did not want Linje to meet. "Can you manage yourself for a mere few minutes." She looked up at him.. those soft eyes.. but yet held a strength unknown by many.

"Would I want what?" Mana asked.

He was beginning to slip into a semi-trance state brought on by a combination of pain and a lack of food and sleep. He was grateful to have the support to walk, even to the point where he didn't protest that he didn't really need the help. He could tell that he did at this juncture. It wasn't something he was proud of, but he was approaching the point where he was too far gone to care overmuch about how he came across.

He was distantly amazed that he had gone so quickly from being competent and alert to being vague and muddle-headed. That was probably not a good sign. He hadn't been careful enough about caring for his injury, he knew. Maybe it had gotten infected and there was a sickness in his blood that had finally reached his brain. That was an unpleasant thought which he hoped very much was not the case. His mind followed this path for several moments while he hobbled awkwardly with Nyoka. He listened to her speak, but her words came to him as though from the far end of a tunnel.

"Not much strength right now," he said, attempting a wry tone. "But when I'm in top form...I would make it your while."

When they reached the watering hole he forced himself to bear his own weight once more. He could do it. He had been doing it for so long. For a few seconds he couldn't remember if there had ever been a time when he wasn't tired, hurt, and hungry. Those few seconds frightened him badly and in a very small voice that revealed how young he truly was he said, "I don't want to die, but I don't want to be a cripple either. I ran away so that I wouldn't be mutilated for my disloyalty. Lesson learned."

Slowly dipping from under him and leading him to her rock. "Lay here." Almost ignoring his question of his wants. She can give him all his wants and hopes. Claiming he MAY be of use.. Hmph. Everyone was usable if you were the right master. Right player. That wasn't a problem for her.. Slowly slinking through the small forest to gather the herbs that Dysi once used to heal her. When she came back.. she had a tail full of herbs.. as she looked up at him to catch that gaze of his.. Was he venturing to the side of dalrious? She came up to him. Humble.. and sat down in front of him as she started to mash some herbs together while she used the bigger leaf to use as a wrap around his paw. Her tail the main source of moment. using her paws to softly.. touch. Lure. The male in.. A female such as her was not one to share her care to just any outsider. Ones that would be of use to her later.. But as she stayed with Linje. Pretending to be the good mate.. she was growing soft. But.... she had not given up her image. She had met Nanashi. Another cheetah male that she exercised her luring ways on frequently.. leaving him as her 'home' pride. To care for as she slowly started to 'part' from linje.

Wanting to gain more knowledge of teh roguelands before fully taking over.. but she knew. She knew. That not everyone was to be trusted.. Nanashi had a family already moving in. Their pride would rise.. to become the ultimate pride. One that would breed beautiful females.. and breed expert males at any skill. An elite family. Knit. No restrictions on mating....

A female was ultimate in luring males.. Oh yes. She was one of those males but as she grew more in term. She rested a lot more. Could not manage to travel back and forth to her pride to Linje.. and patience was growing thin.. Mana helped take those stresses from her mind. Just a tad. "Like I said. I only need an ear.. maybe." Shrugging as she only had her eyes on his wound. This wound gave her lots of information on him. How long he walked with the broken paw. How long he walked. What he walked on. But she stayed silent as she aided him. "You may stay... until you get better. Then I would allow you to go on your path."

Mana submitted to Nyoka's direction and more or less collapsed onto her rock. He was aware that she had left him and wondered if she had left to find someone to finish him off. He was in a supremely vulnerable position that irked him as his mind returned to itself. For a vacation that brief, he wasn't sure why it had bothered to leave him at all. He'd been disconcerted to find himself so disoriented, and he didn't like the feeling of being lightheaded or ill. Pain he could handle, even though there were instances where it felt like it was crippling him at times. He knew, now that his thoughts were his own again, that what was truly crippling him was not his pain but his paranoia.

The entire time Nyoka was gone his mind went back and forth trying to decide whether she, too, would betray him as that other female who'd helped him had. Every time he thought she had betrayed him he made to rise and escape in her absence, but then he would convince himself that was not her design. If she'd meant him harm, surely she would have done it already. He decided to make a study of this place to which she'd brought him. He didn't smell blood, which meant it was unlikely to be a special place for her to lead sacrificial animals to. In the Mizimu it would have been an honor for him to be a sacrifice, but now he knew they would consider him meat to be wasted and he didn't want to die, wasted death or otherwise. His will to live was unusually strong, which made him contemplate leaving once again, while Nyoka wasn't there to stop him. He stopped himself by reminding himself that she was blue, a safe, wise color.

He was pleased to have been correct in his assessment that Nyoka was wise, someone he could put his trust in. She returned, and from the smell of it she'd brought tools to treat his wound. Oh, thank the gods and spirits. Without being asked he extended his injured paw and then looked at it, puzzled. The last time he'd examined it closely it had only been badly chewed and bloody. When had he broken those small, delicate bones? Probably it had just been another pain and he hadn't even realized it, he decided, but that wasn't exactly reassuring. A person should really notice when he breaks his paw.

"I have two ears," he said. With his senses recovered he was also recovering his sense of humor. Still, his sense of humor put in only a brief appearance as his next words were completely serious. "If you need them, they're yours for as long as you wish. I don't think there's any other way I can repay this debt."

The female cheetah was slow. Kind. It all was added and her movements were all timed and precisiely done.Quiet.. Examining him. Studing him as she did many other males and females. Though her distaste for females was apparent everytime she was near one. Very territorial. Loyalty. She looked up at him. "Clever with words even if you are in and out of concious." Petting his paw softly and feeling the broken bits. He did a number on it. Probably from all the walking. Then looking carefully at his paw. "you seem on edge... I believe you are the one whom needs an ear. Why have you been running for so long." She stated. Something vague as though it were truth.. But it was really a trick to get him to talk.

"All appearances to the contrary," Mana began, "I'm not stupid. My paw's like this because of a choice I made, not because I'm too dense to recognize the risk of traveling at the speed I have been. I decided it would be better to live and risk permanent injury than to die. I am not ready to die yet."

For one thing, Mana doubted that he stood any chance of being reincarnated as a lion in his next life at the rate he was going. His acts of cowardice so far had been astounding. His parents, had they still been alive, might have died from the shame of having such a son. Before he could die, he had to redeem himself. He had to prove that he was capable of loyalty to make up for his disloyalty to his former pride and he had to prove that he was capable of bravery to make up for his cowardice in fleeing the certain death he would have met had he remained. It was an unusual predicament to be in.

"I think I'm more toward the conscious end of the spectrum now," he told Nyoka with a weary smile. Then he added with a quick grin, "You must be a very skilled healer. You've certainly done much to put me less on edge, too. Thank you for that."

He wasn't sure how much of his past he wanted to explain to this cheetah. He was naturally inclined to trust her based solely on her coloration, but people he'd met kept telling him that he was wrong about that. It was difficult for him to believe that his entire upbringing had been wrong, and he couldn't accept that. He tried to forget it or rationalize it, try to make what he was learning fit with what he knew of the world and the spirits. But his upbringing had little to do with how much he should tell Nyoka. He decided he should go with full disclosure. If he was really willing to pledge himself to her, whatever that would entail, she deserved to know what she was getting.

"I was born and raised in a pride which serves the will of the spirits. I grew up there and I was even made a runner, although cheetahs do not usually hold positions of rank because we are spiritless. I was swayed - persuaded - to take the wrong side in an uprising that proved unsuccessful. Had I remained I would have been made a slave and mutilated if not killed. And so I fled." He spoke his next few phrases with a combination of sadness and hope. "I am shamed by my actions. Perhaps in your service I can redeem myself somewhat."

She lent him an ear.. After putting the wrap and slowly taking residence on the floor. Her tail curling in.. and out. He would not be a lover of hers.. no.. He.. would be something dear.. Something like enzi.. she looked away.. still hearing him. He was looking to be redeemed for something she had no caused.. but upon his judging ways.. he needed it. Not one to take in strays under her wings. Enzi was an exception. He was a cub.. he was an adult.

She looked at him.. afterwards. Hearing him up until that point.. was he going to go with her? Be with her? She wasn't sure.. but he seemed so repentive enough to have to follow her every word. "Then.. swear yourself to me. Wounded male. And I will protect you and aid you to strive for the spiritless abyss we are. Maybe to prove them wrong but of course.. I have never been wrong." She looked at him with those deep eyes.. she was something more than what she looked. Small.. but all knowing and strong.. he could see it- and she was sure but she still hid behind the delicate face of hers.. "No need to thank one- if you are going to show your place.. Prove to me then.. if I take you. That you would have been WORTHY of my help." Serious.. and direct now. Her eyes.. taking in his blue cyan eyes.. as if she knew his soul and would have taken it away if she could.

Nyoka's words were what he had needed to hear, even though he hadn't been aware of it. Mananakbo didn't hesitate in replying, "I am yours with all my spiritless self. Whatever you wish or require of me, I will attempt."