The hot, sultry wind, common in the middle of the dry season, ruffled the long, dry savanna grass, lit with the dawn’s light.  Here, near the large lake, called ‘Victoria’ by humans, it was cooler than to the west, yet it was still hot.  Animals from all over the region flocked to the lake, wildebeest, gazelle, elephants, rhinoceros, antelope, predators of all kind, birds of every specie, as well as insects.
     Not far to the south of the lake, a lone tree stood among the yellow grass.  Its spreading branches and reddish bark colour named it an acacia tree.  The roots of the acacia stuck up from the ground, leaving a large space underneath, a little cave, you could say.  To the right of the ‘cave’ stood some tall termite mounds.  
     On top of one of these mounds sat a young cheetah cub, staring out silently at the savanna, stretching endlessly all around him.  The breeze ruffled his gray-black fur, making the silvery fur along the back of his neck stand up.  Behind him, his sister and brother tussled in the dirt in front of their ‘cave’.  The female clearly had the upper paw, the male panting hard, and she only breathing lightly.  Her amber eyes were full of battle light, even though it was only play.  For cubs, it was serious.  
     She cuffed the male on the side of the head, and he collapsed into the dust.  She raised her paw again, but he was quick to roll over and show the white fur on his belly.
     The female sat down unconcernedly, and washed the upraised paw instead.  When she finished, she turned around and addressed the other cub.
     “Hey, Seama, why don’t you come and play with us?”     
     He turned around.  His blue eyes, containing just a hint of green, glittered angrily.  “No, Tarlin!”  He turned around again, and resumed watching the savanna around him.
     “Aw, come on, Seama—please?  It’ll be fun,” she added brightly.     
     He replied without turning around.  “No.  Besides, ‘fun’ for you is beating me up.  I already know you’re ‘queen cheetah’, so I don’t need another lesson in pain.  Anyway, I’m watching for Mother.”  His anger seemed to have left, but she could still detect a note of annoyance in his voice.  
     She scowled at his back, then sniffed.  “Well, if you’re going to be a spoilsport…” she trailed off, hoping to see a reaction from him.  When she got none, she sniffed again and turned to her other brother.  “Komar, let’s keep playing.”  It was not a request.
     He shook his head firmly.  “No, Tarlin.  I’ve had enough of your rough ways for this sun.”  He turned and went into the ‘cave’.
     Tarlin gaped.  Both her brothers in one sun!  Well, she’d just have to teach them some respect next time they fought.
     Suddenly Seama said excitedly, “Mother’s here!”  Komar came out from beneath the acacia quickly, and even Tarlin looked excited.
     Their mother was a small cheetah, hence her name, Che-Che—“small thing” in the cheetahs’ tongue.  Her fur made up for her size, however.  It was a shining gold, so different from the average cheetah’s tawny fur.  Her pitch-black spots stood out on the gold.  Since the cubs did not have all their adult fur yet, they all wondered eagerly whether one of them was going to have Che-Che’s fur colour.  In Che-Che’s opinion, however, she would be glad if they all had…his fur, though that was impossible.  Just the memory of him was enough to twist her heart with sadness.
     But she put on a grinning face for the cubs, and she was glad that her voice only shook the tiniest bit.  “Guess what?  I found a nice hideout, one that’ll be safe for at least five suns!”  Females with cubs had to move locations every few suns,  to avoid predators.  To have found a hideout that would last for five suns was rare and sought after.
     The cubs’ delight was easy to see.  They all grinned at each other, contemplating what they would do with their rest time.  A cub’s life was all play and no work—so far—and they loved that they would have more time to play, and less time traveling.  
     Che-Che trotted off south-east, calling over her shoulder,
     “Well, lets get going if we’re going to make it there soon!”
     
     An hour and a half later, the cubs were trailing behind their mother with increasing weariness.  It was just past midsun, and the sun was beginning to be despised bitterly by the tired and overheated cubs. Seama was panting, with his tongue lolling out, and Tarlin was trying not to show the effort it took her to take the next step.  Only Komar looked half-fresh, barely breathing hard compared to his siblings.
     Finally Seama stopped, and sat down, panting heavily.  His forelegs shook, threatening to collapse.
     “Not for a while yet,” his mother replied.  Tarlin and Seama groaned; Komar only flicked his ears in a cat-shrug.  “But there is a rest stop coming up.  While I was looking for our new den, I came across Sabola, my sister,” she explained.  “She offered us refuge at her current den for a while.  She’s got her own litter, so you three can play.”
     “Oh, good,” Seama said, relieved.  His face lit up as he stood up to keep moving, wanting to get there as fast as he could, but his legs wobbled, and he fell back down into the dust.  It rose in a little cloud around him, and he sneezed.  
     Tarlin watched him with contempt, ignoring the fact that she was exhausted too.  “Come on, you weakling,” she said as she trotted back to Seama and nipped him lightly on the neck.  “Mother said we’ll be there soon, so we will.  If you want to be there at all, you’d better hurry up.”  She laughed haughtily, then walked back to their mother, who had sat down in the shade of a tree, waiting patiently for them.
     Seama complied weakly, noticing the expression on his sister’s face, and knew he would never hear the end of it if he didn’t get up.  “All right, all right, I’m coming."  He followed a disappointed Tarlin back to their mother, who got up and started to walk again.
     Komar seemed unaffected fully by the journey, trotting right beside their mother while his sister and brother were behind by a few feet.  Tarlin finally got annoyed that someone was beating her, and ran up to trot beside Komar, leaving Seama behind.   “How do you do that?” she asked crossly.
     “Do what?” he asked innocently, a faint smile flickering across his face.
     “Keep up and still look like you aren’t tired at all!” She grimaced at his surprised expression. She hated being beaten!  That good-for-nothing know-it-all!  He was always making her look bad, looking as if she should know what he’s doing!
     “Oh, that.”  Komar smiled good-naturedly at her, which made her even more jealous.  She frowned at his impudence.  Pretty soon he was going to get a good thrashing, even with Che-Che watching.  “All you have to do is concentrate.  Ignore the fact that you’re tired, and that it’s hot, and just keep going!  It’s quite easy once you get the hang of it.”
     Tarlin gaped at him.  “That’s all there is to it?  Just a trick of the mind?”
     “That’s right.”  He smiled smugly at her; he’d beaten her at something, for once!  Her surprise did not last long though; she trotted ahead of him and stuck up her nose.  “I’ll do it better than you,” she called over her shoulder.  Komar sighed.  It had been good while it lasted!
     As they continued to walk, the almost tinder-dry grass crunching underpaw, they saw many things of interest.  A herd of resting blue wildebeest, heading north to Lake Victoria, noticed the traveling family of cheetahs.  The leader, a huge male, being around five feet at the shoulder, looked up from his momentary grazing and took a step towards them, shaking his mane threateningly.  Then he saw that the cheetahs weren’t even heading in his herd’s direction and started to graze again, all the while keeping a wary eye on Seama and his family, just in case.  The wildebeest calves took one look at the cheetahs and hid behind their mothers, apparently not having much courage yet.  
     Topping a low rise, they saw a pride of lions resting in the shade of a large tree at the bottom of the incline, the adults lolling about lazily while the cubs were pouncing and chasing each other. Che-Che trotted in the opposite direction of the pride; she planned to take a large detour to avoid them.  You never knew when lions would be hungry.
     Once they passed zebras in a large number gathered about a water hole in a deep hollow.  The muddy sides of the hollow were crowded with thirsty zebras; one could almost see the water level going down.  The cheetahs stood by and watched as a crocodile dragged one under the water with much thrashing and splashing, the muddy water turning red with the unfortunate zebra’s blood.  The rest of the zebras, on seeing one of their number pulled down viscously, scrabbled up the muddy sides of the hollow, pushing and shoving each other to get out of the way.
     They saw a hunting lioness crouching in the long grass just above the water, they heard her mutter that zebras were so weak.  Seama rolled his eyes; not likely that she could contend with a crocodile!  
     They followed the water hole’s adjoining stream for a mile or so.  Finally they approached a sort of mini cliff hanging above the stream.  Che-Che led them around it, splashing in the muddy water, until they stood in front of a two feet wide crevice in the overhang.
     She turned to the cubs.  “We’re going to rest here for a while.  Sabola is one of my best friends; her mother and mine traveled together for a while when we were cubs.”  Her voice became stern.  “I expect you to be polite to her and her cubs.”
     They nodded, looking around, only half-paying attention.  Where was here?  They didn’t see a den anywhere.  Seama asked.
     Che-Che smiled secretly.  Then she stuck her head in the crevice and spoke into the darkness.
     “Tyan m’kan jala’myeri, Sabola!”  The words in Old Duma, the cheetah’s ancient tongue, echoed down into the darkness.  (Sabola, we’ve come like you asked!)   
     Che-Che waited, then an answer floated up from the crevice.
     “Dham tyan!” (Come in!)
     Their mother nodded.  “Let’s go.”
     The cubs trotted after their mother through the hole. They were in a tunnel that sloped gently downwards. They followed Che-Che down, into the darkness, the little light that connected them to the outside fading rapidly.  After what seemed like an eternity the tunnel opened up into a large cave, with a hole at the top letting some light filter in.  Sabola sat on the side of the cave with her cubs resting on her.  When she saw them, she got up, motioning her cubs to do likewise, and walked towards them.  
     “Sabola!” their mother exclaimed.  
     “Che-Che!” she replied, just as enthusiastically.
     “It’s so great to see you again!” Sabola said warmly.  She looked around, and noticed the cubs.  “And you brought the cubs!  Now they can play together.  They’ll have so much fun!”
     Sabola and Che-Che exchanged glances, a twinkle of mischief in their eyes, then went to the far side of the cave, leaving the cubs alone.
     Che-Che’s cubs took their bearings.  The little light that filtered in illuminated the very center of the cave floor, which was littered with bones, large and small.  The cave itself was around two metres wide, small for three energetic cubs like them.  However, the cave went back about four metres, where the scant amount of light didn’t touch the cold rock walls.  They saw the entrance to another tunnel back where Che-Che and Sabola conversed quietly, occasionally glancing back to where the cubs sat in a small group.  Probably an escape route.
     The cubs stared at the ground awkwardly, looking anywhere but at the other cubs.  Finally, Komar cleared his throat.
     “I’m Komar.”  He blushed as the other cubs stared at him.
     One of Sabola’s cubs spoke up too.  Her deep green eyes twinkled, and she winked at Komar.  They seemed to carry an age-old wisdom  and patience in them; though that was impossible, for only a cub.  “I am Lisha.  This is my brother Kei”—she pointed to a proud-looking male on her right—“this is my sister Naabi, and my other brother, Gakere.”  Naabi, to Lisha’s left, reddened slightly and straightened, conscious of all eyes on her.  Gakere, to Naabi’s left, just blushed deeply and stared at the ground.  He was unnaturally small, but his dark eyes showed intelligence to make up for his name—meaning “small mucsles” in their Tongue, and pronounced “Gah-KEHR-ah”—and size.
     Komar stood up and said in response to Lisha, whom he was beginning to like, “this is my sister Tarlin, and my brother Seama.  We’re six seven-suns old.”  He motioned with a casual paw to each of his siblings as he said their name.
     Lisha smiled at him, and said, “We are seven seven-suns old.  I’ve heard all about you from our mother.”  Komar felt his legs turned to jelly at the brilliant smile; she was so beautiful!  He would have to get to know her better.
     Sabola’s cubs, since they were a seven-sun older, already showed signs of their adult spots.  Lisha, Naabi, and Kei all had markings that were showing themselves to be spots, with slightly lighter fur around, just enough that you could tell the difference.  Gakere, however, had what seemed to be stripes running down his back.  Amazing.  Neither of Che-Che’s cubs had ever seen the like before.  They stared without realizing when introduced, but quickly realized they were being rude and averted their eyes.      
     Naabi was a fun-looking cub, with large, golden-brown eyes, and when they met Seama’s blue-green ones, Seama felt an instant friendship.  He smiled shakily at her, and she grinned broadly at him.  “Howdy,” she said.  
     “Hi,” he replied shakily.  Mentally, he chided himself.  He was always shy when it came to meeting new cats, and he vowed to fix that…one sun.
     Looking from Naabi to Lisha to Kei, Tarlin mused on who to play with.  Finally she decided on Kei.  He looked like a crowned crane; when paid compliments he would puff up till he burst.
     She sat up straighter, and fluttered her eyes in his direction.  She knew this was the sort of thing for adolescent cheetahs, but she liked this sort of thing.  Her mother had started teaching her early, since she was the only female in the litter.
     Kei noticed her actions.  His stomach did a few flips as he walked over to her, and sat beside her.  He whispered in her ear “attracted, Tarlin?”
     She felt like saying to his face that he was a puffed-up, arrogant, little brat, but instead she smiled sweetly and answered “of course.  Who wouldn’t be?”
     “How right you are,” he replied.  She could almost see his head swelling.  Perfect.
     “Tell me of your…deeds, Kei,” she crooned.  
     He looked thoughtful.  “Hmm…”  Then he finally said, “I’ll show you and them,” and jerked his head towards the other cubs.
     Kei stepped up into the space between the two groups, and addressed Komar and Seama.  “Hello, cubs.  How far have you been?  I have explored everywhere.  And I’ve seen the king.” He made that last sound like an afterthought.  Then he smiled smugly.  He had made bragging an art.
     Seama and Komar looked at each other.  “He was only bragging,” Seama said.  “Should we answer him?”
     “Actually,” Naabi said from behind them, “We have been all over.  He only said ‘I’ because he was showing off for Tarlin.  So you probably should answer him, because if you don’t, you’ll just lose more face than you already have, in his eyes.”
     Komar and Seama sighed in unison.  “We’ve never been anywhere, except our old dens,” Komar said.  “Mother always believed in staying safe, therefore out of sight.”
     “Yes,” Seama added.  “Our dens were mostly in this area.  We haven’t been all over, like you.  Who’s the king he’s talking about?  Is that made up?”
     Lisha’s eyes lit up, and Naabi sighed lovingly.  “King Temilade,” she explained.  “He lives just north of here, about a few miles away.  He’s king because of his spots, and of course his royal blood, but mostly his spots.”  
     “His spots?” Komar interrupted.  “That’s all it takes to be king?”  He laughed.  “I could be king, if all you need is spots!”
     “No, no,” Lisha scolded.  “That’s not all!  Instead of having normal spots, like your mother, or ours, his spots are darker, more vivid.”  Naabi sighed at the memory.  “The spots run together down his back, to look like stripes, with blotches,” Lisha continued, ignoring her sister.  “Royal history states that any cheetah born with that coloring will be next in line for king, since Raï only gives the royal spots to a cheetah worthy of that position.”
     Seama looked toward Gakere, sitting off to the side, watching the other cubs.  He looked like he had stripes—maybe he was going to be king…     
     His thought was dashed away when Naabi moved closer to him, her golden-brown eyes alight.  “It was so great meeting him!  He was the perfect picture of royalty.  Clean, well-groomed fur, polite retainers…”
     Any further conversation was cut off by Kei.  Glancing at Tarlin, to make sure she approved, he smirked at Komar and Seama and said, “Well, are you going to answer me, or not?”  
     Seama and Komar reddened.  “Well…er, we, um, I mean, we…haven’t explored much yet, haha… you see, our mother…”  He trailed off at Kei’s triumphant smile.
     “I knew you were just baby cubs!  Except Tarlin, of course.”  Of course.  “I’ve been to more places than you cubs.”
     Lisha and Naabi looked disgustedly at Kei.  “‘I’, he says,” Naabi muttered angrily.  “We were with him too!”
     Meanwhile, Gakere was sitting a few feet away, listening silently to the conversation.  Now he stepped up beside Lisha, his voice—strong for such a small cub—ringing out so everyone could hear him.   
     “Why don’t we have a contest?  A challenge?  Because, it’s not fair that you are the champion, Kei, just because you’ve been to the most places.”  Kei glared at Gakere.  “I mean, Seama and Komar here are a seven-sun younger,” he continued, “To find out who’s the real champion we need to have a triple contest; Courage, Intelligence, and Endurance.”
     Kei scowled at Gakere.  “I was just going to say that, you little bug-eater,” he lied.  “Thanks for stealing it from me.”
     Gakere looked at Kei, a smile hovering about his lips.  “I’m sure you were, Kei,” he said sarcastically.
     Kei sniffed.  “I was,” he muttered sullenly.  “You just…you…oh, whatever.  Anyway what about this contest thing?  How does it work?  And who’s going to compete against me?”  The last was said with an evil grin directed at Seama and Komar, who cowered fearfully under his haughty gaze.  It was apparent his being uncomfortable was gone. After all, Kei was a seven-sun older then them, and he looked a lot stronger.  Neither of them wanted to be the one to face him, but they knew one of them had to, or that would be it, officially declared cowards in front of the whole group.   
     Gakere winked at the frightened brothers, and turned back to Kei.  “Surely Kei, surely both of them can face you?”  Kei’s face was a perfect picture of outrage, so Gakere hurriedly got on with his plan, for fear of being pummeled.  “Because you are strong enough to beat them both aren’t you Kei?  If you just beat one of them, that won’t be enough for you, oh no.  If you beat both of them, that will be a perfect win for you!”  He smiled sweetly at Kei.
     Gakere had pulled Kei’s strings perfectly.  The proud cub growled at Gakere’s sweet smile.  “Of course I can beat both of them,” he snarled.  “Whatever made you think otherwise?  I am the strongest and the smartest one here, so it’s obvious I can beat both of them at once.”
    Tarlin had been watching the conversation closely.  She noticed Gakere’s manipulating use of flattery, and muttered to herself, “so, smart, yet so small.  I thought I was the only one who could use flattery.”
     Gakere had good hearing, too.  He turned to Tarlin and said quietly, “that’s where you’re wrong, Tarlin.  Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘I pointed out the stars to you, but all you saw was the tip of my paw.’  It means you’re missing the big picture.  I’m small, but it does not matter what I look like on the outside, it’s what’s inside that counts.”
     She stared strangely at him, and suddenly the world was cast with a whole new light.  Gakere’s simple logic was right, she thought, I’ve missed the whole picture, and just now I’ve realized it.  Looking good on the outside is great, but the truly intelligent cheetahs look for what’s on the inside.  Tarlin stood up, and looked at Gakere.  “Thanks,” she whispered.  He smiled at her warmly, and turned to the assembled cubs.  
     “Now,” he said, “for the contest.”
    
     Over in the back of the cave, Sabola and Che-Che talked earnestly about matters all over the region.  
     “The King wants to call a meeting of all cheetahs in the area,” Sabola said.  “He wants to warn us about Senneth, and how to resist him.”
     Che-Che gaped.  “Senneth!” she finally squeaked.  “He’s only a cub’s tale!  He’s not real!  Or…is he?”
     Sabola shook her head sadly.  “No, he’s real all right.”  Che-Che flinched.  “He’s real enough, and raising an army of followers.  Cheetahs who’ve gone over to the dark side.  He’s convinced them that the Black God is the winning side, and all who follow him will be rewarded when he conquers the region.  Anyone who resists his army of followers, and won’t declare for the Black God, gets trampled up and eaten.  He has all sorts of predators with him; rumor even says that he has a pride or two of lions following.”
     Che-Che glanced at the cubs, talking on the other side of the cave.  She raised her right paw and clenched it.  “I will fight him, by Luca!” she growled.  “I do not want to see my cubs, or any cubs for that matter, taken over to the dark side, or killed.”  She suddenly let out a huge breath, and sighed.  “I don’t know what to do, Sabola.  I’m not a powerful force!  I can’t fight anyone, let alone Senneth!  I was the weakest in the litter, do you remember?  I surrendered right away whenever someone came to play-fight!  Oh, I don’t know what to do!  The old stories all mention Senneth being an evil force who gave no mercy.”
     Sabola patted her with a sympathetic paw.  “It’s all right, we’ll do whatever we can to save the cubs.  In the meantime, we can go to the King’s meeting and listen.  Maybe he’ll be able to offer some advice.”
     Che-Che fidgeted uncomfortably at the mention of the king, then sighed again.  “Fine, when is the meeting, and where?  It better not be too far away, because I’m exhausted enough from moving every few suns, me and the cubs both.”
     “No, it’s not too far away.  It’s just north of here, on the bank of Lake Victoria.  That’s where the King’s den is, so it stands to reason that’s where the meeting would be.  We can go together, it’s in a few seven-suns.”   
     “Well, I guess we can go,” she replied uncomfortably.  “I…oh, we can go.”     
     Sabola was just going to reply, puzzled about why her sister was reluctant to go to the King’s meeting, when the cubs came up.  
     “Mother,” Kei pleaded.  “Can we go outside?  We want to play a game.”
     Sabola looked at Che-Che questionably.  “Do you think we should let them?  It’s early evening, when the hyenas and wild dogs start to hunt.”  She could tell by the half-light filtering in the hole in the roof.
     Che-Che felt sorry for the cubs all cooped up in the cave.  “No, let them.  I think it would be good for them to play outside for a while.”
     All the cubs grinned.  “Thanks!” they yelled, and dashed up the tunnel, laughing about who would beat who in the challenge.
     The two sisters looked at each other.  “What challenge?” Sabola asked curiously.
     Che-Che flicked her ears and started towards the tunnel.  “Whatever it is, we’d better get going before the cubs run into mischief.”