Become a Cheetah
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There were still two months left until the end of the rainy season, and Luo Qiao’s injuries had almost completely healed. It was hard to imagine that the wounds that once made it difficult for him to walk now left no trace. His smooth, light beige fur was as neat and clean as ever.
"Is it because of being an evolved species?"
Luo Qiao lay on the grass, watching the two little cheetahs chase and roll around in the grass ahead. He flicked his tail. Luo Rui always lost to Luo Sen in terms of strength.
As soon as Luo Sen let him go, Luo Rui hopped over to Luo Qiao’s side and lay down, letting Luo Qiao lick his forehead and ears. A purring sound rumbled from his throat.
"Dad, what are we eating today?"
During Luo Qiao’s recovery, Luo Sen and Luo Rui had become even more attached to him. They often clung to him, as obedient as two little kittens. Luo Qiao did everything he could to keep himself and the cubs from going hungry, but with limited prey to catch, their lives had been tight for the past month.
Aside from warthogs, the father and sons mostly ate rabbits. Although the taste wasn’t bad, the sight of Luo Sen and Luo Rui drooling over the antelope herds always made Luo Qiao’s heart ache.
Luo Qiao secretly made up his mind. The first thing he would do after recovering was to catch a gazelle for the two little cheetahs to satisfy their cravings! And he did manage to do it, though it wasn’t a gazelle—it was a dik-dik.
Dik-diks were small, but they provided enough food for a day. Due to their habits, dik-diks rarely ventured out of the bushes and often hid around acacia trees, making them hard to spot. However, their taste was quite good.
Luo Sen and Luo Rui saw this kind of prey for the first time and curiously circled around the dik-dik. But their curiosity didn’t last long, as filling their stomachs was always the top priority.
The two little cheetahs were almost five months old now. They were growing very healthy, and their teeth were becoming sharper. They no longer needed Luo Qiao to tear open the prey for them to eat.
Occasionally, they would chase smaller animals, such as jackals that followed them, looking for opportunities to scavenge. This chasing was both a game and practice for hunting.
Luo Qiao realized he had to start paying attention to the cubs’ education. He couldn’t raise them forever. Normally, cheetah cubs were raised solely by their mothers. Both evolved and primitive cheetahs left their mothers around eighteen months old to start living independently.
Before that, they would learn everything they needed from their caregiver, including hunting skills and the types of prey they could catch.
The little cheetahs didn’t seem to have a clear concept of the size of prey. Once, Luo Sen even pointed at an adult zebra and asked Luo Qiao if they could catch it to eat.
Attempting to change the habits of a species single-handedly was something Luo Qiao knew he didn’t have the ambition or ability to do. He could only adapt to the environment and do his best for the cubs.
Although Luo Sen and Luo Rui were raised by him, Luo Qiao couldn’t disrupt their natural instincts. It wouldn’t do much good for their future lives.
Counting on his paws, Luo Qiao realized he only had about a year left to live with the two little cheetahs, which made him a bit gloomy.
As for the cubs’ education, it had to be prioritized.
After the father and sons finished their meal, Luo Qiao took the two little cheetahs to the nearest waterhole to drink. Cheetahs didn’t need to drink water every day. During the dry season, they could go without water for up to ten days.
However, they needed to eat regularly. Due to their body structure, cheetahs had almost no fat reserves. If they went without food for a few days, they could starve to death. Cubs were even more vulnerable. This was why Luo Qiao did everything he could to keep the little cheetahs well-fed.
Luo Sen and Luo Rui trusted Luo Qiao wholeheartedly. As long as Luo Qiao was around, the two little cheetahs could play without a care in the world. They spotted a serval cat hunting mice in the grass and immediately rushed over with excitement.
At less than five months old, the cheetahs were almost the same size as the serval. In fact, upon closer inspection, the adult serval was slightly larger than the two little cheetahs. But Luo Sen and Luo Rui didn’t think there was any danger, until the serval scratched Luo Sen’s nose. The two little cheetahs were so scared that they ran back to Luo Qiao.
Luo Qiao sighed helplessly. The serval was still arched, posing threateningly at Luo Qiao. Seeing that Luo Qiao had no intention of attacking, it turned and ran into the grass.
"Dad…"
Luo Rui nuzzled Luo Qiao’s chin affectionately, while Luo Sen, realizing he might have caused trouble, stood quietly to the side.
Luo Qiao didn’t blame them. This was the instinct of cheetahs to chase and hunt. There was no need to scold the little cheetahs for such a thing.
But he had to make them understand what they could mess with and what they couldn’t. If they provoked something they couldn’t handle, the consequences could be fatal.
In summary, always pick the softest persimmon.
but in this context, it’s a metaphor for easy targets
"Alright, Dad’s not mad."
Luo Qiao had the two little cheetahs follow him as he began their first lesson.
"Boys, you need to listen carefully to what Dad teaches you today, understand?"
"Understand!"
Luo Sen and Luo Rui obediently followed Luo Qiao as he explained each animal they encountered. It was the rainy season, and the grassland was teeming with herbivores, making Luo Qiao’s lesson go smoothly.
"Remember, our prey is usually small antelopes like gazelles and dik-diks, as well as the young of some herbivores. Don’t easily provoke adult wildebeests, large antelopes, or even adult impalas. Our advantage is speed, not strength. Wrestling with wildebeests or zebras is something lions do…"
Luo Qiao patiently explained to the little cheetahs, occasionally answering their questions without ever showing impatience.
"Dad, an ostrich egg!"
Luo Sen had discovered an ostrich nest containing more than a dozen ostrich eggs. Just as Luo Qiao was about to call Luo Sen back, a tall male ostrich stepped in to do the job for him.
Luo Sen was startled by the ostrich, and Luo Qiao had to rush in to distract the bird. He then led Luo Sen and Luo Rui far away from the enraged ostrich father.
"One important thing, don’t mess with adult ostriches. They’re not our prey!"
"But the ostrich eggs…"
"An isolated ostrich egg might have been abandoned, but a nest with many eggs is definitely guarded by adult ostriches. Remember what Dad said. You saw it just now—they’re not to be trifled with. Understand?"
The two little cheetahs nodded, and Luo Qiao breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, well-behaved children were more endearing.
He remembered that mother cheetahs would catch young prey for their cubs to practice hunting. When did this training usually start? A few months old?
Luo Qiao couldn’t recall. The memories of this male cheetah were also a bit fuzzy. Was it six months? Eight months? Ten months? Or even older?
Unable to decide, Luo Qiao simply made up his mind to start the next day!
So, the following day, Luo Qiao specifically caught a young gazelle less than two weeks old. The two little cheetahs successfully chased down the gazelle and tripped it with their paws.
Just as Luo Qiao thought they would bite the gazelle’s neck, Luo Sen and Luo Rui ran off to fetch two stones instead. Luo Sen even tried to pick up a stone with his front paw to smash the gazelle’s head!
"Son, what are you doing? Why aren’t you killing it?"
"Dad, this is how you killed that big one!"
Luo Sen puffed out his little chest, speaking with utmost seriousness, while Luo Rui was still struggling with the stone. In fact, without transforming, the little cheetahs couldn’t possibly pick up a stone with their front paws.
Well, Luo Qiao didn’t know whether to be proud of the cubs’ keen observation and learning abilities or to worry about them. He had indeed used this method to catch some larger prey, but when he hunted gazelles, he always went for the neck!
"Did I?"
Luo Sen and Luo Rui looked at each other, tilting their heads simultaneously.
Luo Qiao helplessly looked up at the sky. The education issue was still a long and arduous task. Sons, Dad is feeling the pressure…
Luo Qiao wasn’t the only troubled parent.
At that moment, the lion Oros was also in a state of irritation.
The Oros pride had twelve strong adult lionesses, all of whom were Oros’s wives. During this rainy season, the pride had welcomed nearly twenty new cubs.
Although some of them wouldn’t survive past their first year, the sheer number of cubs was giving the lion pride’s males a headache.
The cubs loved to play and make noise, and the lionesses always indulged them unconditionally. Especially Tena, who had become a grandmother. She almost never got angry with the cubs.
All Oros wanted was to take a good nap, not to play with these cubs!
Oros himself did not have much patience. What he was good at was fighting and guarding the territory, not babysitting! Once the lion cubs annoyed Oros, he would definitely bare his fangs, giving these ignorant little fellows a warning, even if they were all his children.
But at this time, the lionesses who used to obey him roared at him, and sometimes, even slapped him. Although the sharp claws were retracted, being slapped by a woman was a matter of a man's dignity!
Oros upheld the principle of good men not fighting with women, and was driven out of his home by the lionesses. Thinking of how these lionesses flirted with him a few months ago, Oros was filled with tears.
Even a lion king cannot escape the fate of being used and discarded.
Oros was very annoyed, but also very helpless. He simply left the central area of the territory where the lion pride was located, and began to patrol the territory. Unexpectedly, he ran into Luo Qiao, who was taking his cubs.
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