The Purring Panther's Exodus

They call me the Purring Panther.

I'm the Queen of the streets, they say. I can turn heads with my walk, they claim. They say that I've seen the world, and there's nothing to fear anymore.

But, in all honesty, I didn't even leave the village until a few months ago. And now I'm traveling across Africa with a group of friends and family members, trying to muster up enough strength to take on our oppressor - The Lion King.

We have been traveling for days. There are five of us in total; Me, my sister Fluffy, my brother Chuckles, my mother Nana, and her boyfriend Marbles. It has been years since we've seen each other. We were slaves under the Lion King's rule back in India, kept separate from one another so that we couldn't form any sort of rebellion. But we did anyways, after getting word that a certain type of plant would make us immune to lion bites. We had been researching it for months before deciding to go on this journey to get it. And here we are, several months later and *nothing* has happened yet. We're tired and hungry and tired again; but no matter how much we beg for food, our guides keep telling us there's nothing in this area until we reach our destination - Morocco.

"So...how long do you think it'll be until we find that plant?" Chuckles asks nervously as he licks his paw clean of some sand that got stuck while he was cleaning his face. "I haven't eaten in weeks."

Glancing over at him briefly as she runs her fingers through her thick mane of a blue-grey hair, Fluffy sighs impatiently as she replies passively "We'll get there when we get there." She groans a bit as she rolls onto her side and brushes some sand off her backside before laying back down on her belly and closing her eyes. It has only been about two hours since we left camp this morning; surely this is too early for naps? "Why don't you try finding something new to talk about instead?"

Chuckles' eyes widen slightly as he quickly responds "Oh! Yeah! I've heard that there's supposed to be an elephant graveyard somewhere around here!" He perks up happily at the thought of seeing one when Nana speaks up next to him:

"It won't do us any good if you see one right now." She turns over onto her side so she is facing away from him as she starts digging into the sand with her front paws before continuing: "You won't be able to digest anything except grass right now." She pauses briefly before rolling her eyes and looking over at him while replying flatly "You know how you get when you're hungry." Chuckles slumps down dejectedly beside her as Nana continues: "Just wait until we reach Morocco where you can eat anything your heart desires." She rolls over onto her belly again before chuckling softly and saying playfully "And then maybe you'll stop complaining." Chuckles stares at the ground in silence next to Nana as she continues speaking: "Besides...we're almost there anyway." Chuckles looks up at her hopefully as she says reassuringly "The guide said it shouldn't be too much longer," before closing her eyes and falling asleep again.