dozed off in his temporary home made of leaves and sticks. It was just sticks for support and closely knit leaves for the roof just like Cheetah's. The appearance of the first star was like a knockout blow to his senses.
Cheetah, however, was sitting outside his shelter with his back leaning on a tree.
Brahmuhn was sound asleep like a dead baby. As if he had no care in the world. No enemies that would catch him unawares and slit his throat, or worse.
'Humph!' Cheetah smiled at himself after staring at Brahmuhn for a while. He envied him. A boy who had worshipped the Vadhindi on his arrival at Chaponda Village during his teen years. A scrawny child who used to struggle with the simple concept of clutching firmly a spear. That scrawny child no longer existed but had been reborn as a mighty warrior. A man among men. "The Mighty Brahmuhn".
Just then, Cheetah heard soft footsteps from behind some bushes behind him. He tightened the grip on his whip. The soft footsteps kept drawing closer. He wanted to alert Brahmuhn but he did not want to let whatever or whoever was behind the bushes to hesitate and escape, only to come after them again.
There was silence for a while but Cheetah knew that whoever they were, they were still there. It was not long before they revealed themselves, or rather, itself. It was a leopard. Whether female or male, it was too dark for Cheetah to tell…and irrelevant as well. The beast seemed dazed as its glowing eyes stayed glued to him. This was not fear. Most predators were usually predictable, but not leopards.
Cheetah could not procrastinate any longer. He cracked his whip in the air once. The leopard only jerked and gave a quick glance to Brahmuhn before bringing its glare back to Cheetah.
Surprisingly, Brahmuhn was still sound asleep. The mbanje he had been smoking had taken a toll on him.
He cracked his whip again two times in the air but this time, the leopard did not flinch. It started growling, but softly. It was as though it did not want to wake Brahmuhn up. It probably knew that a two-on-one battle would tilt the odds of victory against it. Brahmuhn just rolled over on his side and began snoring.
The leopard took two soft strides towards Cheetah, paused for a lightning-quick second then, like a deranged serpent, it launched itself towards him. He quickly swerved to the side and narrowly avoided its shiny sharp teeth. The leopard landed with a soft thud on the ground.
He began swinging his whip. He launched one strike with his whip and slashed the animal's shoulder. A tear developed on the shoulder and red blood could now be seen, even in the darkness of the night.
Now beyond agitated, the leopard launched itself at him again but zigzagged thrice first. Its claws slashed his right shoulder before it landed several yards in front of him.
Both parties were now fully alert.
Cheetah knew he had to put an end to this before the animal pounced again. He ran towards it but the leopard was way ahead of him. It leapt for his throat but he slid beneath it on his knees and as soon as it was above him he quickly got up and jumped onto its back. He began wrapping his whip around its neck. He was like a shato (python). The more the leopard struggled to get free, the more he tightened his grip. The leopard had more than twice his strength but the wound he had incurred on its shoulder had lessened its power over him.
Both parties were now grunting; the leopard, in pain and trying to stay conscious, and Cheetah, in fury and trying to end the creature's life. Its grunts were slowly becoming muffled. They were fading. Cheetah looked up into the sky as the full moon shone on his face but not for once did he ease his deadly grip.