[PRP] Dog meets Cat (Yatima/Machu)

[PhiferWolf]

One would wonder what a wild dog would do with a useless, but loyal, Water Buck. He cannot hunt. He could hardly be of any use but company. A wild dog had actually asked if he was an idiot for keeping one around and offered to eat him. One could say that dog deserved what he got and Slavic, the water buck in mention, was still following this dog around. However, never on his hunts. Last time Machu had told the water buck to hunt for him, he get himself hurt and indesposed for some time. So hunting was another one of his few tasks.

The large, well-structured build male stalked after a group of water buck for some time. Glad that Slavic wasn't around, he could kill one and eat it before getting back. Then he wouldn't have to listen to the stupid thing complain. Thinking about it, maybe he should further frighten the creature by eating one of his own before him.

Whatever.

He had a few tasks to do any how. Find food for himself. Find a female for himself. Create a family with said female. Find a female for Slavic. Have Slavic have his own family to be used by his. That sounded about right.

Machu could not think too much longer before hunger settled again and off he stalked the herd.  

[Storei]

Unfortunately, neither of the things the said wild dog was in search for, was apparent in the current mile wide perimeter. The only thing, which was coming fast upon the same herd the wild dog had his eye on, was a single female cheetah. Her ears were perked and her green eyes were alert. Watching the movement of the herd with quiet intensity and concentration, she crept forward.

Unfortunately AGAIN, the cheetah had failed to notice the Wild Dog, one of Serithi's most important rules broken once again. Yatima was hungry too and she was just now trying to implement the other's hunting lessons. She couldn't put 100% of her attention on the herd though, and thus not on anything that might've been around stalking the same food source, because she had another song stuck in her head.

She had tried to get it out, but it refused to stay, and so was her priorities messed up and the Wild Dog stumbled upon.  

[PhiferWolf]

Machu lunged forth and made a b-line toward the herd, surely one of the older, sickly ones would be easier. If there was a calf or something, he would gladly take that. Actually, his stomach was what controlled him. He was hungry and he was just about ready to eat anything.

With a heightened sense of smell, he quickly picked up the cheetah. It was female it seemed, but the fact that it was another predator, it just drove him further to get what he wanted.

Machu threw himself into the herd, snapping his jaws at what he could get. With blunt claws, he couldn't hold onto anything. He needed food, but his attention was split between the Water Buck and the cheetah that was nearby. Either he got the food and eat, risking her stealing it from him. Or he doesn't get anything and they both starve.  

[Storei]

What? Another predator!

Yatima's green eyes had just picked up the sight of another scurrying body tumbling through the tall grass towards the herd. Her nostrils inhaled the air and it was a scent she had never smelt before. Although her curiosity begged to take a closer look or perhaps let out a greeting call, Yatima knew that it was no time to do those things. This was a time for hunting. She was hungry and her tummy told her to follow her hunting friend's advice and teachings.

With the flex of her taut muscles, Yatima veered off to the side, attempting to drive the fleeing herd towards the wild dog. If she were to do that, perhaps they'd scatter and scramble in confusion, letting it be easier to catch something. So, like a sand colored bullet through the grass, Yatima dug her clawed paws into the dirt, springing herself closer and closer to the herd.

She'd have to do this quick, her energy only lasted for so long.  

[PhiferWolf]

Machu growled as he smelt the cheetah grow closer to the herd. Either she was planning on stealing his food before he had even gotten it or she was gonna get her own. She better have chosen the latter option or she was gonna get hurt. As fast as she is, dogs could get a good bite out of them.

That was if he didn't have a struggling, kicking water buck in his maw.

His golden eyes glanced around to see if he was able to find this female. Where was she? Was she around? Was she here? Damn cats were always an annoyance when it came to hunting...

He let go of the prey for a second to let out a threatening bark before closing his jaw around it again, it was only seconds now before they met face to face.  

[Storei]

With the practiced angle of her maw, Yatima attempted to launch herself at the nearest waterbuck. She had felt her prey wiggle for a brief moment between her claws before it someone managed to squirm from her grasp. With a despondent growl of disappointment, Yatima tumbled to the ground, like a train that had run off its tracks. She attempted to pull herself up to her feet and try again, but the waterbuck had flown and Yatima was running out of energy. She may be fast, but she couldn't keep it up for long.

With one last spurt of energy, the cheetah raced for the escaping waterbuck once more, just when she heard the warning bark of the other predator. Alright, so she wasn't specifically attacking his waterbuck, but Yatima felt like she had done something wrong nonetheless. She had just managed to leap once more at the waterbuck and nab it between her paws. Quickly, she ended its struggling and then, tired and heaving chest, glanced up and around for the other that had been hunting nearly beside her.

"Hello?" she asked, "Sorry, if I got in the way, I'm kind of new at this..." Alright! She had caught something! Serithi would be proud! Yatima, exhausted, was proud of herself.  

[PhiferWolf]

Machu simply growled around his kill and glanced at her from where he was, his jaw covered in blood, holding the kill close to him. Even with hers, she could easily steal his and beat him off to discourage taking it back. He wasn't really up for a fight...

"You could have found another stupid herd... I got them first," he growled. He didn't really care if this female was nice or mean, he didn't like her... most because he was trying to defend his food. If he could get her to leave then he would be able to eat in peace and not have to worry about his food being taken from him.

She was... new at this? For an adult cheetah to be new, she must have been one spoiled female.

"Well, good job. You caught one," he said, not really cheerfully just.. not very hapy.  

[Storei]

Luckily for the Wild Dog, Yatima wasn't really the fighting kind of cheetah. She was more of the singer, dancer, creator, performer...bard type. Or so she liked to consider herself. Yatima did the best she could to lick the blood from around her maw. She didn't think it would be too polite to have red splattered around one's mouth when conversing with another.

When Yatima heard the other's first growl, she twisted her lips into a frown and tilted her head to the side. She wondered what was making him so grumpy. Perhaps he didn't sleep very well the previous night...Or something like that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you until it was too late...At least we both got something though, yeah?" she piped hopefully. Then, in response to him, Yatima crewed, "Thank you! It's not really my area of expertise, if you know what I mean. You were really good out there!"  

[PhiferWolf]

He let go of the dead animal and scoffed.

"Hunting is what I do, I am a predator, otherwise I wouldn't have sharp teeth," he smirked a toothy, but bloody smirk.

His attentioned snapped back on her and his gaze narrowed. What was with this female? How could a female, cheetah not know how to hunt? Or be new to it? If she was unable to hunt and she had cubs. . . Well, in short, Machu would pity the starving things. Actually, he would pity anyone one around her if she had to care for them.

"You should hunt more often then."  

[Storei]

Yatima gave an embarrassed chuckle, right from the bottom of her chest. He was right, she did need to hunt more often.

Thanks to Serithi's lessons, she was more apt to try now and she planned to make it a regular occurrence in her daily planning. Before she had been taught, she would scavenge and dine on what other lions conveniently left behind. She had been in a poor condition and in even poorer health. She hardly had the energy to run as fast as she did today. She owed it all to that kind leopard she had met not too long ago, otherwise she'd still be in the same way and she would probably be drooling for the waterbuck the other had caught.

"I know, I'm going to do it more often. I'm still kind of learning. No one really taught me before until just recently," Yatima told the stranger.  

[PhiferWolf]

He scoffed and pulled himself to his feet, his tail up high to show that he was seeing himself as superior than she was. To him, any predator that didn't know or was not good at hunting was nothing to him. He was the better being. However, she wouldn't know too much about canine gestures.

"Well, if you are considering yourself to be a mother or a mate, I suggest you warn the male before you sleep with him that you can't hunt. Otherwise, your cubs will be the one suffering and the male overworked to feed them and you. So I suggest you start working harder on it."

He wasn't afraid to state the truth.  

[Storei]

Yatima's brows knitted themselves together and she pursed her lips in thought. Well, that was unexpected. Only once or twice before she had encountered a sour soul, but she had never come across one like this one before. She actually considered a bit rude, if she wouldn't mind saying so herself!

"Well," Yatima returned coyly, "I'm not planning on having cubs now or later, got it? They're too much responsibility and I believe you're right, I'm not cut out to be a mother. I am a bard, not mother material! But thanks for the heads up anyway." All of this was true. She didn't believe in herself having cubs, nor did she ever foresee it happening. There was a part of her that feared it, and promised that she wouldn't let it happen as long as she lived! She was too free a soul to be tied down with the weight of motherly duties.

The waterbuck underneath her claws gave one last twitch of life and Yatima pressed her claws harder into it until it was, for sure, dead.  

[PhiferWolf]

"Hah! Tell that to a male who cares. What will you do if a male found that you were just there to make him happy? And you just end up pregnant? You have no real choice in the matter what happens then. You're pregnant and you will give birth then you are forced into motherhood. Then what will you do? You didn't ask for it. You didn't want to be, but you would be. Then what will you do then?"

It was quite obvious what he was talking about. If she did not get it, then oh well. He was sort of sour about females who think they always have a choice in their choice of having cubs or not. He knew his mother had no say in it...

He gave a soft scoff and stood upon his kill with his forepaws as if pushing out the last breath of life within the already dead creature.  

[Storei]

Yatima, confronted with this seemingly impossible proposition, laid her ears flat against her head. Well...She had never thought of it that way before. She knew what he was talking about, very vaguely, she knew. From this point in time, it seemed improbable. If she were to get near to a male with those kind of intentions, she would run away as fast as possible. Yatima knew that she would do anything to get away from him and that responsibility. But what if she did get pregnant? What if it did happen and she had pairs of tiny milky eyes watching her every move, begging her for food she was still learning to catch...?

"I'll...I'll take care of them the best I could until I could find someone else to take care of them, a friend," she said, her voice hesitant and unsure, or maybe...I'll just run away... she thought, "Or something like that.

"At any rate, I'm not going to let it happen, no matter what. As long as I can fight, I'll not let it happen, for their sake and mine," Yatima finished. A little poetry seeped into that one, it did.  

[PhiferWolf]

He scoffed and shook his head. Was this female so dense? Males were naturally stronger than females. He looked at her and cocked a brow. Was she honestly going to think that she was so fast that she can outrun a male cheetah? They had the same body sort and they could run just as fast... but if his male was a skilled hunter, she would likely lose out.

"So you are going to run away from your duties to the cubs that you and this male have created. Good to know that there are some as bright as you," he shook his head again, his meaning obviously sarcastic. Any female who ran from their duties as a mother was a nobody to him and he would quickly stop chasing after them.

"I suggest you perfect your hunting, stranger. Because you say it won't happen, it doesn't mean it won't," he sighed and turned away from her. "Keep it, you're going to need it I think. Just do yourself a favor and this friend's, take care of your own problems than dumping them on someone else," With nothing else to say to her, he made his way back to Slavic, hopefully, he was not too far away from where he had left the water buck. Likely catch something on the way back.

He could not remain and 'play' with her anymore... She reminded him too much of his mother.