From the Amazon rainforest to the African savanna, the change in terrain was quite a change. That wasn't to say there weren't any tall trees around, but they were further spread out than in the jungle. That made a big change for the arboreal Animalian tourists, including a few of the members of the Five Elements. It was certainly a big change to have so much open space.
"You know, it's not as hot here as I would have imagined," said Huoxing, looking up at the clear blue sky.
"We're close enough to water holes and rivers for it to not be too hot," said Shuixing, "And this isn't the dry season yet."
"I hope they're prepared if there's a wildfire," said Huoxing.
"Wildfires aren't all bad," said Muxing, "At least, contained ones aren't. They clear out the land so that new growth to come up and keep the ecosystem stable. I hear that several kinds of aboriginal people do that kind of controlled burning."
"Well, that's something for you to look into," said Tuxing, "But I think we should spend our time interacting with the locals. There's a lot to learn here."
"I don't know. This place doesn't look that modern," said Jinxing, "I mean, they have huts made of grass here."
"They also have eco-friendly futuristic homes," said Tuxing, "What don't you look there? See what tech they've made for living out here."
"Huh, not a bad idea," said Jinxing.
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While Muxing was looking at the natives' techniques with controlled wildfires as well as their own herbal cultivating and Jinxing was looking at the hi-tech homes, the other three were getting to know the locals on a more personal level.
Shuixing knew there were buffalo in Africa, though they were more distantly related to the Asian water buffalo. Still, the African buffalo was known for being one of the most dangerous herbivores in Africa. Though elephants and hippos were still major threats, buffaloes were known to trample and gore quite a few people every year. And looking at the way the uplifted buffaloes here were built, Shuixing could easily see how they could be a threat.
Though Shuixing was in no danger of being attacked by the local buffaloes. Quite the contrary, the single bulls were very interested in her. To them, Shuixing was a particularly dark-colored version of their cows with extra-big horns. Shuixing was finding this attention rather flattering, particularly since most men didn't bother looking at her when she was human. Shuixing was quite tempted to do a fling with one of these handsome bulls, though she couldn't pick one out just for good looks and she was trying to not get them fighting over her.
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As a red panda, there wasn't much of anything in Kenya that Huoxing was close to. Though the red panda was an outside relation to members of the mustelid family. Its relation to the giant panda was at best distant. So Huoxing was spending a good amount of her time climbing up the scattered trees around the colony. Though it wasn't as exciting Vilcabamba.
During one of her climbs, she spotted something in the distance that looked like a sizeable mound of dirt. Feeling curious, Huoxing climbed down from the tree and headed towards the mound. As she got close, she could see that it was next to a large hold in the ground and a pair of uplifted meerkats wearing hardhats were standing watch outside. As Huoxing approached, one of the meerkats said, "Hold it. Tourists aren't allowed in. This is a construction zone."
"What are you building down there?" asked Huoxing, trying to look down the hole.
"You've heard of the Burrows in Lyre, right?" asked the second meerkat.
"Well, yeah," said Huoxing.
"It's pretty much what we're making here," said the second meerkat, "Plenty of burrowing species that would prefer someplace underground to live in."
"What kind of burrowers do you have here?" asked Huoxing.
"Well, there's us meerkats for starters," said the first meerkats, "Then you have honey badgers, ground squirrels, naked mole rats, aardvarks, aardwolves..."
"What's an aardwolf?" asked Huoxing.
"It's a smaller kind of hyena, mostly eats insects," said the second meerkat.
"You sure I can't go down there?" asked Huoxing.
"Not real safe for civilians right now," said the first meerkat, "Besides, you strike more of a tree-climbing type.
"Well, you got me pegged," said Huoxing.
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Naturally, Tuxing was drawn towards the local big cats. Though they didn't seem to be particularly impressed. Tuxing was expecting the leopards to be avoiding her out of instinct, which was understandable considering how they interacted in India. The cheetahs were pretty active folks and none to be more fast-paced than other Animalians. The cheetahs didn't bother Tuxing, though that seemed more because she wasn't very interesting for them.
The lions were another matter. If they were more controlled by their instincts, Tuxing probably wouldn't be getting just a cold shoulder. While tigers weren't native to Africa, there was a species of lion native to Asia and it didn't get along well with tigers. Thankfully, the uplifted lions were a lot more welcoming to visiting big cats. It helped that Tuxing made a new friend to help break the ice.
Zoe was someone that Tuxing liked from the start. They had more in common than just being younger girls double-dosed into big cats. While Tuxing was more concerned with martial arts and balancing out her sisters, she did admire the fashionable clothes that Zoe helped model. And Zoe in turn found Tuxing's fighting prowess awesome and wanted to learn some of her fighting style herself.
"So, you want to move here?" asked Tuxing.
"Sure," said Zoe, "This place just...feels like home."
"Is that really the lion feeling that or the human?" asked Tuxing.
"Is there a difference?" asked Zoe lightly, "But yeah, I'm sure I want to move here. Not immediately, but there's a lot this place has: wide, open spaces, a growing hub of community, a place for a modeling school to start, plenty of cute lion men..."
"Wait, did you already..." started Tuxing.
"Yeah, it was the last time I was here," said Zoe, "I am double-dosed and a legal adult now. I can do what I want with who I want. Though I hope you don't think think I'm, well, wild enough to sleep with just anyone. There just happens to be a particular lion I'm fond of, though I'm not sure if we're going commit just now."
"Really? Who's that?" asked Tuxing.
"A girl never tells," said Zoe, "Though I can tell you who would be a good lay if you wanted to have some fun."
Tuxing was a bit hesitant. She had plenty of experience with that when she was a 'member' of that 'cult'. On the other hand, her tigress body has been craving some attention lately. "Perhaps later," said Tuxing, "Perhaps you can show me around first."
"Sure," said Zoe, "As long as you don't mind being with those guys from Animalia Ambassadoria. I promised them a tour as well," said Zoe.
"That's no problem with me," said Tuxing. She rather liked this lioness. She might be her first friend outside of her small group.