The guilty cheetah which got away

A long time ago, in the deep jungle of a small isolated island, there lived all animals in near-perfect harmony.  Humans had not polluted the lands yet and the lion was considered the rightful monarch, reigning fairly, respected by all except for one creature that loathed it the most and that was none other than its half-brother, a feline-like creature, born of the same mother but with a jaguar as father. That creature, being extremely vain due to its unparalleled rapidity on land and magnificent fur, was snubbed by the lion and given no name.  Needless to say that there was a storm brewing in that creature’s body and it wanted nothing but revenge.
Now, one fine sunny day, as it was going for its morning drink of water, it saw the lion quenching its thirst from the river, from afar.  Malice glinted into its burning eyes and it saw there a unique opportunity to get rid of its rival and simultaneously, get its paws on power and become the ruler of the animal kingdom.  So, while the lion had its back turned, the creature treaded slowly on the soft grass and then pounced! Since the monarch was caught unawares, it could not fight back.  The creature, excited and enraged, massacred its bitter rival so violently with its claws that blood spattered all over its own body. Finally, with a mighty roar, the lion died and all the other animals rushed to see what the matter was.
Seeing the crowd of animals assembled in front of that shocking sight, the vicious creature had to save its skin.  So, it decided to play the victim.  Cowering, it moaned and cried and pretended to have been attacked by the lion.  The blood spatters on its fur made its story credible and the animals readily believed it.  As compensation, it was allowed to become the new ruler.  With time, the blood spatters on its fur dried up and became permanent black spots as did its tyrannical rule over the animal kingdom. Thus, the nameless creature with the black spots became the most feared creature in the jungle.  “You cheated us! Cheap cheat!” would wail its victims.  But it was too late. The harm was done. Life is unfair in the animal world. The word ‘cheat’ perpetually resounded in the jungle and this is how the ‘cheetah’ got both its spots and name…