[PRP] On the Hunt (Arusha & Kizev)

[Puhterodactyl]

Soft paws padded quietly along loose stones and through a trickling stream. Arusha walked slowly through the water, letting it stream through her toes and wash her scent trail away as she hunted. She raised her head and breathed in deeply. She was in the typical hunting ground, she wouldn't be surprised to run into another lion with the same intention, but given the pride situation since the violent takeover, the gentle and worrisome lioness had even more to fret over. Hopefully she wouldn't run into anyone like Firaga or Shangyue.

She sighed and glanced back over her shoulder, thinking to herself that maybe she hadn't struck out without her twin sister. Sighing again, she forced herself onward. They were adults now, she'd have to get over it. If one of them got married they'd be forced apart more, so she might as well get used to it.  

[mouselet]

Kizev moved cautiously, his attention focused on the hunt. He'd long since learned how to let idle thoughts rest where they wouldn't distract him, and his senses were attuned to the world around him.

That was how he heard the noises that seemed to be...different...than what was expected of the stream. Moving water was a constant background noise, but something in the quality of the sound had changed and pale purple eyes narrowed as the lion changed his direction towards the stream.

Creeping up, he poked his head above a rise to get a good look...

...and sighed, standing up fully as he spotted the lioness wading around. She was a Slave, he thought, but he couldn't remember her name. Not someone he usually worked with. But someone related to Uchanjaa or Nkosazana, with that coloration.

"I guess we won't be bringing back any fish," he joked.  

[Puhterodactyl]

A sigh found Arusha's ears and she froze, jolting visibly when he spoke. Her head whipped around to find a pride member. Well, at least there was comfort in recognizing him as a pride member. "Oh, ha, uhm, you startled me!" She smiled nervously, embarrassed to have been so startled by someone sneaking up on her when she was the one supposed to be hunting.

"Well as long as we find something to take back, right?" She gave him a slightly less nervous smile. She took a couple of steps towards the male. They'd both used 'we' so she assumed they'd join forces on this hunt. Two heads were always better than one. That's what being a twin had always taught her.

"I'm Arusha." He'd been so easy to spot as another Mwezi member by his shoulder marking and yellow coat. There were a lot of lions who shared that with him in the pride, but they'd never been introduced.  

[mouselet]

"Kizev," he answered easily. She seemed nervous, which was a shame. But if she was here, she was clearly a Slave and not a Royal Guard, which did make things much simpler for him. And the lioness didn't seem to be that kind of person anyway, so he could just be himself.

"That's true," he offered her a smile. "Though...I think you may be new at this, we don't tend to bring back fish," the male told her gently. There weren't, from what he'd seen, many fish in the stream, and those that were there were difficult to catch. None of the Hunters or Huntresses were particularly good at it, so there were almost never fish to be had in the pride.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Her ears laid back on her head a little bit to go with a sheepish smile. "Is it that obvious, Kizev?" She laughed a little at herself, and shrugged. "I'm new to doing a lot of stuff without my twin, but I figured I'll have to get used to it sooner or later."

She chewed her lip and flicked an ear in his direction. "So... Should we try for something like an antelope? Or a gazelle?" Due to growing up so closely to Manyara, she'd never really had to make any decisions without a second opinion. What Kizev didn't know was that she'd been out with the intention to hunt for some time now without anything to show for it. Oops. Hopefully he wouldn't find out, but even if he did, he seemed kind enough to not fault her for it. She felt she had a good learning experience ahead of her.  

[mouselet]

The lion blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected to learn that, of all things. Yes, her inexperience showed clearly, but who would've thought she'd be another twin? They weren't exactly common, though they were far from unknown in the pride.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious," he replied with a small laugh. "But, I didn't know you have a twin! I do too."

Switching subjects to something a little more practical, however, he considered the merits of the two preybeasts she had mentioned. "Well, first of all, gazelle and antelope are fairly similar," he mused aloud. "But of the two, I think antelope are easier to catch." Great Lion knew he wasn't particularly fast and the odds of Arusha being so weren't great. Not to mention a paired hunt didn't work so well if one got way beyond the other.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Her eyes lit up and her ears perked forward. So he was a twin, too! She could see them getting along well on this hunt. There certainly was something special about a twin. She watched him closely and nodded at what he said.

"I saw some kind of hoof prints not long ago." She bobbed her head in the direction. She began to walk that way, and shrugging, she added, "though I'm not sure how fresh they are or what they belong to." Kizev would probably know. Right?  

[mouselet]

Hoofprints, hm? He hadn't seen too many recent tracks, but it couldn't hurt to take a look at Arusha's find. At the very least it could serve as a good lesson on tracks, their identification, and what they meant.

"By all means, lead the way," he encouraged her. "We'll certainly take a look at those hoof prints and see what they can tell us on our hunt." Yes, she was technically older than he was, but out here, on the hunt, he was clearly the more experienced. Which meant it was his duty to ensure that she learned something out here, if only to make future hunts smoother and easier on everyone.  

[Puhterodactyl]

His encouragement put a quickness in her step and she wove between some tall grasses to the game trail she'd stumbled upon. She nosed the area. "There!" She gestured to the tracks and looked back at her hunting partner, eager for his approval, ears forward and eyes glued on him.

At least this was a nice distraction to the unease and uncertainty she felt in the pride sometimes. The only thing that could make tonight better would be bringing down prey and finding Manyara waiting for her back at the pride!  

[mouselet]

Kizev followed along more sedately until they reached the spot where Arusha had found tracks. Pausing and being careful not to touch them, the lion bent over to examine them. Then he nodded.

"Yes, these are antelope tracks. However," he extended a single claw and gestured to the sides of the depressions, "see how the sides of the hoofprints are dry and crumbling?" He then laid his own paw in the earth besides the prints for a few moments before withdrawing it and gesturing again.

"On the other paw, my own print is damp on the sides and the bottom and will remain like that for some time, until the heat dries it out. That means that whenever the antelope passed through here, it was some time ago." He glanced up, smiling at the darker lion. "But other than the age of the tracks, you did good. We might as well follow these for now and see if we can find something more recent - the herd may have stopped to graze after they passed through here."  

[Puhterodactyl]

Arusha was a little disappointed in her find, but he was right, and they still at least had a chance! She smiled at her companion and let him take the lead this time. Not too bad for a slave, right? She couldn't wait to tell her sister all about the tracks she'd found, maybe bring back some dinner, and maybe mention something about the cute lion she'd met, too.

The end