[PRP] Hunting Trip (Neci and Shemshi-Eusi)

[Kimaria]

The girls - sisters, in fact - were closing in on the hunting ground just as the sun was dipping behind the dunes, leaving a faint chill in the air that would only grow worse come nightfall. Still, this was a good time for the hunt and that was what they had come here to do.

The best hunting grounds were located some distance from the heart of the pride, on a scrubby stretch of ground sheltered by a few sparse, sickly looking trees. With the recent rains, the small river was full again, feeding the ground so that what once had been bare was now covered in scratchy grass and ridiculously fragile looking flowers.

Up ahead, the herd-beasts were grazing.

Neci, with an excited glint in her eye, hunkered down. "We're in luck," she paused to survey the land. "Where do you think we should try from?"  

[SilverLutz]

Shi followed her sister, just a pace or two behind, as they set off on a hunting trip. The yellow-eyed sister wasn't very good at bringing down prey on her own, so she figured watching, learning from, and helping her sister might strengthen her own prowess. If not, this was a sign that she clearly wasn't cut out to be a hunter and she should look for a new profession. There were lots to choose from in the Firekin, but unfortunately most revolved around fighting or hunting in some way. So far, that was proving to not be her strong point.

She hunkered down beside Neci as they reached the edge of the hunting grounds, the dying light catching the backs of the prey-beasts that were completely at ease, grazing the new grass without a care in the world. She gave a little hum in agreement, eyes darting this way and that. She'd never seen so many options before!

"Uh..." The question made her lick her lips a bit. "Well...where's the wind?" She lifted her nose up a bit and took a little sniff. They were downwind of the beasts, but there was hardly a breeze to speak of. "Should we come from the side?" she suggested, nodding off to the left where the dunes would provide a bit of shelter. "Or from here? We're already downwind..." There were a few tricks she had picked up on, but Shi was not a strategic lioness by any means.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

SilverLutz

"Hm, they might have a more wary eye cast this way if they know our home lies in this direction. Shall we take a risk and try moving in from a different angle?" She paused to test the air with a few delicate sniffs of her nose, pinpointing the wind and where it might be safe to tread. "I think your idea of the dunes would work well, so long as we keep a steady footing. One wrong paw and they'll see the sand shifting."

She directed with a tilt of her snout, "we can creep across the dunes and slip down against that hard earth, if we keep low, the grass will cover us."

Ahead of them, the large-eyed deer were unaware of the two predators close by and, with a small nod, Neci shifted her weight and slowly began to work her way to the dune. "I'm not sure how likely this is to be successful, but if we do it, it'll be a fine hunt indeed. Our teachers would be proud of us."  

[SilverLutz]

Her sister's reassurance made Shi relax a bit. She knew she knew how to hunt. It wasn't as if she were stupid. But putting the theories and rules into practice was always much harder than she thought. It was probably due to her boundless energy and bubbly personality that made it hard to stay quiet and low to the ground for so long. Her patience wasn't very long, either, so she would usually pounce far before she should have.

Still, with Neci here, it was helping to ground her quite a bit. She followed after her sister, two shadows moving in the dying light. Their lack of fiery colors might be scoffed at by some, but it made blending with the evening shadows that much easier.

"I'll be proud of us," she agreed with a laugh before wincing. Quiet, right... She glanced over a dune, thankful that none of the creatures were looking their way. The sand must have blocked her slightly too loud snicker. Phew.

"Should we split up?" she asked as they reached a nice spot between the dunes, settling low but with a good vantage point of the herd. "Perhaps one of us should sneak in and startle them in this direction?"

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

SilverLutz

Neci gave her sister a small smile. The enthusiasm she had was incredibly endearing. "I think splitting up would be best," she kept her voice low and steady. Of the two, Neci was the more quiet and patient, a studious learner who processed every little lesson over and over until they were imprinted in her mind. Still, despite doing well, the hunt was never a predictable thing. Anything could happen and in her experience, often did. Still, succeed or fail today, it was time spent with her sister and that was never a waste.

"Would you like to do the chasing?" she asked with a teasing glint in her eye, "you always did have more energy than I did."

"You have some good cover there, get as close as you can and then try and lure one in this direction. I'll get down by those rocks there and try to intercept it as it comes past." She paused a moment to absorb the plan, then turned back to her sister.

"Does that sound ok?"  

[SilverLutz]

Shi nodded at the offer, a grin on her face. She loved running. It was her favorite part of the hunt! Once it got to the actual work part she lost her enthusiasm. Leaving the hard part of catching the selected beast to her sister was a relief off her chest. She'd be there to help bring it down, of course, but the catch was all Neci's job.

"All right," she said softly, heading off in the direction Neci had suggested. She back-tracked a bit before weaving her way through the dunes, giving the herd plenty of space. She paused from time to time to make sure her footsteps didn't draw attention, the sun had set a bit more by the time she reached her spot.

Shi settled down to wait a few minutes to give her sister enough time to get into place as well before training her golden eyes on the rocks. She'd wait until she got a little signal from Neci before making her move.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

SilverLutz

Neci moved slowly, concentrating on the placement of her paws and on the breath in her lungs. Control, control, control. Hunting was a difficult thing, filled with sudden twists and turns that could trip up even the greatest huntress. But they had learned the skills they needed to in order to pull the chances of success a little more in their favour. Patience, quiet paws and control. Her master's lessons streamed through her head, remembering her younger days stalking across the desert whilst her posture was corrected.

'Lower! Get that grass covering you!"

She smiled fondly, remembering those lessons with a sudden burst of longing. What she wouldn't have given to be young again, to be following her teacher like a love-struck youth again, all ears and eyes and willingness to learn.

And then, all of a sudden, she had reached the rocks she had indicated to her sister and was pressing herself close down to them, hiding in their shadow, her belly pressed to the still-warm stone. She drew in a long, steadying breath, and slowly raised her head to peek out over the top to catch her sister's eye.

She was ready.  

[SilverLutz]

Shi waited until she saw her sister peek up from her hiding spot and grinned. Excellent, the hunt was on! She turned her attention to the herd that now stood between them, the beasts still completely unaware. The wind had died completely and the air was still, letting Mat poke her head around the rock she was hiding behind, staying in the shadow and squinting her eyes to hide the only part of her that might give her away.

What luck. A little group of younglings were unattended, romping and kicking and making odd little noises at one another. With a little luck she'd chase one right towards Neci...maybe she'd even get a swipe or two in as well. She was fast, after all. A baby couldn't control its limbs that well.

She glanced between the four younglings, sizing each up. Two were male and two were female, and one of the males seemed much smaller than the others. Indeed, his legs were still shaky from birth. Either he was fresh from the womb today, or he was ill. That was the one.

She moved like lightning, Silent lightning, with no thunder after, no warning of her attack. She got within four or five bounds of the herd before she was seen and an alarm was sent up, but it was too late for that. She barreled through the younglings as they fled, chasing down the youngest who was still very fast for being either so new to the world or ill. Coming up on its left, she forced it right as it brayed for its mother, but no help would come. Her heart racing, she ran a bit slower to chase it rather than run beside it, snapping at its heels as they approached Neci's hiding spot.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

SilverLutz

She could feel the thrum of the hunt in the ground beneath her paws, felt it match the frantic beat of her heart, judging, estimating...

They were getting closer now and the muscles in her hind legs tensed, readying her for the leap that would bring them success--or failure. Licking her lips with both nervousness and excitement, Neci counted the breaths between each stride and then, suddenly, she was leaping upwards with a snarl, forepaws outstretched, claws uncurled.

Unfortunately, she had emerged a little too soon, though in the end it would matter little. The young prey faltered at the sight of her appearance but it was tired and afraid and Neci was on it before it could change its course. Her teeth came down on its neck and it went into a manic struggle, kicking its limbs as it wrestled to get away with its life. A hoof caught her sharp in the face and suddenly she was blinking blood, but her teeth had locked down and there was no escaping it. A slight resettling of her jaws and the poor beast fell limp.

For a moment, Neci lay gasping for breath, the cut above her eye bleeding openly but small enough that it would not cause too much of a problem. "We did it," she panted, feeling a surge of victory floor through her veins.  

[SilverLutz]

As her sister pounced, Shi knew they'd won. The calf was startled so much that it nearly froze, an impressive task after moving so quickly, if awkwardly. Her heart was pounding in excitement as she knew victory was near. Following her sister, she didn't take part in the kill as the beast was too small. Were it a full-sized creature she would have latched on to help, but as it was she knew Neci could do the job.

When the other lioness turned to face her Shi saw the blood above her eye. A flash of concern took over for a moment, but when Neci's voice was jubilant and free of serious pain, she relaxed. Just a mild cut, nothing too serious. Good...hooves could be deadly, even from a little creature like this.

"Nice grab!" she said with a delighted laugh, prancing around her sister and their prey. "Wow, that was so much fun!" It was her first real tandem hunt and now she knew why lions stuck with the title. She knew it could be a frustrating job, but times like this seemed to make it all worth it.

"You okay?" she added, leaning in to butt her head against Neci's shoulder. "Looks like a painful spot for that cut."

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

SilverLutz

"We make a good team," Neci agreed with a grin, finally pulling herself to her paws, "we should hunt together more often." She blinked rapidly again before shaking her head, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Seems like us huntresses have our fair share in battle scars, too, hm?" That seemed to amuse her and for a moment she glanced down at their unlucky prey. It was a good size and if they took turns in carrying it, should be back to the lands in no time at all.

"You have a good eye for spotting the best target, especially with the amount of them out there."

It seemed they really did make a good team. "I think this makes us fully qualified now, don't you? Our first hunt out alone and it is a success." She moved forwards to rub her shoulder against her sister's, glad to be able to share this moment with her.

"What say you to heading back now and showing everyone our accomplishment?"  

[SilverLutz]

"I suppose so," Shi said, still with a worried look on her face. As Neci moved into rub against her shoulder she stole a few quick licks to clean up the blood and the wound, making sure there was no dirt. It was smaller than she feared it to be, so it made her relax quite a bit more. Phew...nothing life threatening. Not that a life threatening head injury would allow her sister to stand there and smile, of course.

"Yes!" she said, her usual peppiness back in full force as she pranced around her sister and their prize. "Oh man, I bet mom'n dad'll be so proud of us!" It was their first hunt without help, as Neci had mentioned, so a success was a pretty big deal. Maybe she was a better hunter than she thought...she just needed to be with someone who understood that she wasn't the best to leave behind to make the kill. She was far better being the one to chase them down.

"Here, I'll carry it first," she offered as she bent down to pick up the limp body. Neci had done the hard work, after all, so she deserved a break.

Kimaria

Last one from me!

 

[Kimaria]

Neci smiled and gave a soft purr, glad for her sister's company and concern. It had been a good day today and she was certain that it would be celebrated. They truly were adults now. No longer a burden but an asset.

"Thank you," she replied, waiting for her sister to give the go ahead to move away. "Let me know when you need a break."

And the walk back home was far easier thsn it had ever been.

/fin