Damu hoisted herself up. She was careful to ensure the foliage blocking her view was out of the way of her face by nipping at it and rearranging its path with her head. Ah, there we go. She thought smugly and looked before her to see a reassuring and no doubt refreshing pool of glistening water. Back in her old home, pools like these were the only available source of water, and the leopardess made herself well aware of the potential dangers it contained. Her body was sore, and the pads on her feet bruised from rocks having dug deep into them over all the cliff scaling she had done. She would say it was worth it though. The sight of all those mountains carefully etched in her memory, the thick and fresh smelling fog pouring through them making only the tips visible- yes, it was worth the pain. On top of that the very cliff she had hung off of that morning rewarded her with an easy and relatively painless rush downwards into the tropical valley she had found. Here; birds sang several songs a day, and food occupied every corner of the jungle. It was almost exactly alike the jungle she had come from, and for that it bored her. She wished to see new things, not the same thing in a different location! It was almost as if she had never left the forest in the first place!She forced her semi-bruised body through a twisted pile of branches that blocked her way and moved swiftly over to the pond of water she had found. Bending down she began to lap it up with her soft pink tongue. Suddenly her senses were overcome by the refreshing and lovely cold water that slipped down her parched throat. Her expression stoic, Damu indulged happily in the natural resource and could feel pleasantly as it began to cool her exhausted body. It was always so dreamily wonderful when she could feel her lungs being cooled as the water travelled to her stomach.
Her gaze lifted and her redden eyes found themselves focused on the brush ahead. Was something moving? She was not paranoid, for she was a strong and quick moving leopard. Running away or fighting off danger was simple and could be accomplished at ease. No, it was instead only the matter of satisfying her curiosity that summoned her attention to the unidentifiable noise. Her ears curved forward instinctively and her head lifted slowly while she licked her lips hungrily. Her tail was swayed against the ground rapidly, indicating her unrivaled excitement. A crack from a tree nearby caused her ear to flick backwards, carefully monitoring her environment. Damu sniffed the air and peeled her ears back against her skull. Food. Glorious, delicious, mouth-watering sensation of nourishment was nearby. This made Damu readjust her position, bringing her body close together in preparation of a pounce. The rustling of the bushes did not cease, but instead whatever creature she thought was worthy of being her next meal was fleeing. “Stop!” She nearly voiced, but stopped herself before she could release the words from her quivering lips. Instead she began to summon a roar from her belly and surged forward desperately in an attempt to give chase. She might have been sore, tired and not up for the thrill of the hunt, but Damu was hungry and well; the food wasn’t going to serve itself up to her. That much was evident and as she gave chase, wading through deep water, she began to identify what it was she was pursuing. Ah, a delicious waterbuck. She could almost taste its meat right then and there, and bolted forward with a snarl.
The creature was already in fleeing motions as Damu came pouncing through the trees. It fled even quicker now, although panicking from the unexpected carnivore appearing. Damu wasn’t in the mood for games though, and in an effort to prevent it from fleeing leapt on the nearest log she could find. To her luck that was the same direction her prey had turned to run in, but reared on its hind legs startled at her quickness. She roared again, this time swiping at her prey while she darted after it. Failing to as much as clip off a single hair, she began chasing the waterbuck furiously. It darted this way and that with Damu struggling to keep up behind. Her lungs were starting to feel the ware of running and her heart pounded vigorously in an effort to allow her to sprint further.
The waterbuck suddenly turned, and Damu was forced to stop and skid against the ground before managing to spin around. Digging her claws into the ground she thrust herself forward after her prey in a mad frenzy. The waterbuck found itself slowed while trying to climb up a rather steep hill and Damu had finally managed to snag a chance at success. She observed while trying to catch her breath for a second that the hill was made primarily of rock, and that the poor creature had gotten it’s hoof wedged between a couple of the rocks.
Her expression still had the same, serious and deadly glare it always did but on the inside she could feel herself happily celebrating with cheer. She needed to catch and kill the beast though, and rushed forward to the collection of rocks the beast dared to get up. It was getting loose however, and Damu was not even half way up the hill. She paused briefly in shock, but shook it away and returned to her huntress mode as fast as she could. There was no time to dawdle, her meal was escaping! She gave it all she had now, and climbed with all her leopard might to reach the beast as it finally got itself unstuck from the pile of stone its hoof was stuck in. “No!” She cried desperately and leapt from her stop, knowing all too well she was inches short of tackling the prey. She struggled herself to recover her footing and watched in horror as her meal darted through the jungle. She was breathing heavily, but continued to run. It was only a few feet ahead of her and no doubt the tiny deer was beginning to feel exhaustion as well. Her mouth was watering at the idea of chomping her jaws on the scrumptious live meat and she managed through her aching bones and painful lungs to muster a single roar before rearing and leaping through the air in what she decided would be her last pounce.
Damu licked her maw in an attempt to clean them. The meat was as delicious as she had imagined- or heck, even more so! Her belly was full, her thirst satisfied and her muscles finally had the opportunity to rest. Sleep started to overcome her mind and Damu from the tree she had occupied as an ideal resting/eating spot was comfortably beckoning for her to rest. She lowered her head on her paws and slowly swayed her tail back and forth in the air below the branch. Yes… Sleep would be nice. She closed her eyes and relished in the delight she received from having closed them. Then, her mind began to wander.
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