Out of Your Element

The jungle was cloaked in mysterious obscurity and ready to betray anyone unprepared for the hardships that lurked. It wasn’t like the jungle in which cradled Simba in its vines, no this jungle was almost always swathed in shadows and dangerous creatures stalked high and low. Nonnatives could easily find their death at the hands of a gorilla or the jaws of a leopard for they knew the trees and darkness like the back of their paws.

Twin felines balanced precariously higher within the foreboding canopies, gleaming eyes like chips of malachite narrowed downward with sinister light. They were natives, born there from a clan of leopards but unfortunately cast aside for their abnormal pelts, they still stalked the jungle and often spied of unaware guests. Synchronized shadows they were, moving in unison with each stroke, breath, and thought for they were always with one another. Nuru and Sheeta, twin ebony leopards of immense size for the leopards of this jungle grew larger than normal to combat the beasts that could rend branches from trees. Nuru and Sheeta had trained their sights upon an intruder obviously misplaced in the lair of inky darkness. To them, she was blood atop a pallid surface, so easily discernable that it was almost comical.

The lioness clad in bronze seemed to awkwardly hobble through the dense foliage before they witnessed her bizarre act of climbing. Lions don’t often climb, they were slow and weird but the twins had just witnessed her attempt at such a thing. It was wise, remaining at the bottom of the cage of trees could make you’re a target but she was a target nonetheless to them. No sound uttered from the lounging beasts, they observed her with serene interest for some time before a rustling far lower gathered their attention briefly. It was an aardvark snuffling within the dirt for morsels, the twins of obsidian weren’t interested in such a creature when a lion was invading their land but they kept a peaceful tone about them.

“Are you lost, little lioness?” resounded two voices mingling into one, the sound haunting and almost ghostly. They remained gripped in darkness but she could probably see them a little above her. “We don’t see many lions entering this jungle,” twining voices were filled with mirth; they were teasing her but their words held truth. Lions that knew of this place purposely avoided it; therefore this one had to be new. Ears angled subtly toward the sound of a frightened animal dashing, the aardvark must have finally noticed them speaking and fled. Sheeta placed a beneath her slender chin and leaned forward to loom a bit in the direction of this stranger while Nuru wore a grin.