Spoiler: show
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The hard ground crunched under her paws. Clumps of dust drift up from where she stepped, and her underbelly was matted with dry dirt. Ahead and all around her, the desert was spread for as far as she knew. When she had first entered, a week or so ago, it had been a navigational error. A rather serious, large error. She hadn't expected the desert to be so large, either. The last drop of water she'd had was yesterday, when she'd stumbled across an old waterhole with barely a splash left. She had literally licked it dry.
The brown lioness snorted as a parade of flies hovered around her face. Lifting a paw to swat them away, she shook her dusty coat and allowed herself a moment's rest. Her destination was undecided, but for now all she wanted was to leave this dry land. A drought had sent her on her journey to start, and now it had led her into a desert--even worse than just rain-lacking savannah.
She exhaled a puff of air and turned her head about. Stunted trees, ragged shrubs, and mounds of compact soil made up the desert's appearance. It was better than just a mass of sand, at least. And there was some food--slender lizards, scrawny meerkats, a couple of antelope. However, they were tricky to catch--living in a harsh environment made them tough. She'd only been able to snag a meerkat in the time she'd been in the desert, and right now she was quite hungry. But she was beginning to find herself to tired to hunt. She was so young, and hadn't ever properly learned--all she knew was what she had taught herself. Hunting prey like wildebeest, antelope, zebra, and gazelle were beyond her. She had been able to catch smaller things like ground squirrels and meerkats and hares and sometimes little ungulates like dik-diks or bushpigs.
The young lioness scratched a paw on the ground and tilted her head as she watched a bird rise in the distance. Her dry tongue flopped out of her mouth as she lowered her pale icy blue gaze, and her tail flicked. She desired the basic needs, but none would present themselves to her. Closing her mouth and shuffling forwards, Kahawia continued on her endless trek.
