Cheetahs

"Scar is king," the meerkat stated. "Mufasa is dead, and Simba is believed to be so."

I couldn't hear what my mate was muttering under his breath, but it probably wasn't anything about wishing our new king a long life and a prosperous reign.

"It gets worse," the meerkat continued. "He has placed one of his hyenas in charge of all the cubs in the kingdom, as well as caracal and serval kittens. So far, she hasn't eaten any; she claims she wants peace."

"Let her claim what she will," I responded. "We're leaving."

I was frightened, but I knew with tensions so high between hyenas and lions, it would only be a matter of time before one or both sides forgot our peace agreement and began attacking cheetah cubs. However, my mate and I formed a plan. Our family walked until we were past the lands of any animals who may have heard of Mufasa or Scar. We found a nice waterhole with plenty of quarry and laid claim to an area of land.

"We'll have to be careful," my mate remarked. "We don't know what other creatures live around here."

It was true. Before we had been established in our new home for a full hour, a huge lion approached us and brusquely demanded to know why we were on his land.

"Is this way you treat ambassadors?!" I exclaimed.

The lion scowled. "This is a new one! I must say I've never heard that excuse before!"

"We are from the land of another great king," my mate explained impatiently in his most pompous voice. "He seeks an alliance with your realm, that together, you may have the mightiest kingdom on the savanna. However, if you insist on insulting us, we shall simply tell him to offer another monarch this chance for a coalition of power!"

I looked down to hide my proud smile. Zazu himself couldn't have given a better speech!

"Very well," the lion relented. "How long may I expect the honor of the king's ambassadors in my kingdom?"

"Until the next rainy season," I answered.

He nodded. "I shall take you to meet my pride."

None of the lionesses seemed pleased to have a family of cheetahs joining them; however, we soon proved our worth. The meerkat brought information to them, just as the gopher had always done for Mufasa. During hunts, my mate and I would make sure the prey did not outrun its pursuers, and the lions would use their great strength to ensure the quarry could not outfight us. Since we were believed to be political officials, the king forbade his subjects to harm our cubs.

"Our plan is working!" my mate whispered to me one evening. "We're safe from Scar and those wretched hyenas! All six of our cubs are still alive! Who says cheetahs never prosper?"

"Do not grow proud," I warned. "Any of our fortunes may change on any given day."

Thus we drifted from kingdom to kingdom, pretending to be ambassadors or dignitaries or whatever role we believed would serve our purposes. At times, we would visit the realms of monarchs we already knew, acting as if we had visited our own king and had a message from him. We never stayed in any particular area for any longer than several weeks, for we knew that if we stayed anywhere too long, the resident lions would become suspicious.

After spending years as nomads, we finally decided to return home to see if circumstances had changed. On our way, we passed through a jungle. Thinking it would be a pleasant place to rest for a few days before continuing our journey, we lay down by one of the streams to nap. However, we soon awakened to the meerkat tapping our paws.

"What's wrong?" I yawned.

"Lion tracks."

I was on my feet in an instant. "A lion?! In the jungle?!"

My mate frowned. "I thought lions were grassland creatures that couldn't survive in jungles."

"One might say the same about cheetahs," I remarked.

"There are also tracks of another meerkat," our spy informed us. "Shall I see if I can get any information there?"

I nodded, and the meerkat hurried off.

"You should rest," my mate advised. "I'll stand guard."

"I couldn't possibly sleep now," I replied.

"Do you fear the lion that much?"

I shook my head and gestured to our cubs. "Time passes so slowly that it's hard to notice certain gradual changes. Do you realize they are cubs no longer?"

He was speechless for the longest time before replying, "Ninety percent of all cheetah cubs die before reaching adulthood, but all of ours have survived!"

Purring, we rubbed our heads against each other. I loved my mate so much, and I knew that without him, I would surely have seen my cubs die, as other cheetah mothers must do. I wished there was a way to express the gratitude I felt for all he had done, the affection that had only grown stronger during our years together. How I pitied other cheetahs who didn't have this blessing!

We gazed in admiration at the most beautiful sight on the savanna: our adult offspring. My mind wandered back over all the struggles I'd had through the years, but I knew I would gladly suffer every last one of them again for the sake of my family.

Our tender moment was interrupted when the meerkat reappeared. She informed us that the meerkat living out here was Timon, a colony reject, and the lion looked enough like the late King Mufasa to be his son.

"We're going for the throne now!" I announced. "If Scar is starving out his subjects, the lionesses will leave the Pride Lands to hunt. All we have to do is find a way to suggest this jungle to one of them. She'd eventually find Simba, and then he'd return."

"He might need some help," my mate commented. "Think we should see if our friend can find any meerkats who might know of this Timon creature?"

I nodded. "When Simba is king, we can give him enough information about other realms that he'll want to reward us. We'd tell him to run off the hyenas and leave the cheetahs in peace. More cheetah cubs would survive to see adulthood without their parents having to form fake alliances with other species who would gladly kill them."

I knew our plan would most likely lead to a great battle, but surrounded by my family, I felt only hope. In fact, I dared to hope that the day would come when the statistics would be reversed, and ninety percent would be the number of cheetahs to survive rather than the number of cubs lost.

For now, I prepared once more to find food. We had plans to make and a lot of work ahead of us. It seemed that no matter how many tasks we accomplished, there would still be more to do than could ever be done. However, it was enough just to know that for once, a family of cheetahs had managed to prosper.