Getting better, not there yet

Chade was getting a relatively good feel of the island, at least enough to have his favorite spots.  He enjoyed being up high so he could see wider distances both for the view and he just felt safer knowing it would be hard to sneak up on him.  

He had been resting there for a time but then Swift had come up next to him and somehow it had turned up into an unplanned mock fight.  The young cheetah was about half grown and had more to learn about fighting than Chade.  The young man’s confidence had grown a lot after all his time with Al and Manea but he knew enough to know that there was always more to learn.

Chade’s past laid deep scars in his mind that he could never allow himself to become weak.  Being an acceptable fighter would never be enough, he had to be a great one.  He needed to be able to take down bears alone, to scare off any fool predator that threatened his brother.  Chade had to never again be a scared helpless victim.  Swift would be his partner and so the cheetah had to grow up strong as well.

"Speech"