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It was sometime after mid-morning; Enzi wasn't sure. The sunlight clung to his fur and made him feel sticky and hot. His eyes were screwed shut, lips quivering in his nearly-unconscious state. Strange, swirling black and white designs played just past his eyelids and his stomach knotted with sickness. Then the leopon gasped and opened his eyes.
Violet gaze shifting, the juvenile stared at the thick tree branch that hung overhead. Slowly, gently, Enzi took in a wheezing breath and attempted to roll himself over onto his back. He failed. The air had gotten knocked out of his lungs and his chest ached.
"Ow..." the leopon whimpered pathetically. His ears turned back and he glanced up at the branch through his bangs. Well, he thought, that's what he got for trying to be all cool and climb a tree. He'd never attempted it before, so why did he think he'd automatically be good? And there he was, nearly passed out from the fall he'd taken.
Way to go, Enzi. Now you can't even move.
For a rather grumpy bird who much preferred dusk over dawn, Nesibindi was feeling mostly content in the sunlight of the day. Her wings stretched out far as she flew, eyes scanning up, down and around. She was like a living security camera. Nothing ever got past her magenta vision. Her talons were sharpened to the max; excellent tools for defense and offense. Her beak glinted sleekly in the sun and she smirked, feeling powerful. Because that's just what she was-
Powerful.
But she tucked her head in, grinning bashfully, as she knew she was getting rather carried away with her self-praise, however true it was. There were more important things to tend to. Like surveillance of the area. It was in that precise moment of thought that Nesibindi saw something out of the ordinary: a clump of gray huddled near a tall, wide tree.
Raising an eyebrow, the avian shifted her flight pattern and headed for the peculiar gray spot. Whatever it was, good or bad, it didn't matter. She was prepared for anything.
Enzi's mind was in a tumult.
His claws dug deep into the soil beneath him, ripping up blades of grass in the process. His eyes were narrowed in pain, yet they wanted to remain wide open merely from his inner fears.
Had he broken his chest? Had his heart exploded? Was he going to die there? Where was his mother?!
With a little whine, tears filled the gray juvenile's eyes and he winced nervously, tail stretched out stiffly behind him. But then he heard a sound that shifted his attention. It was like wind...Could it be the sound of running? His mother?! ...No, there were no pawsteps. Suddenly gripped with anxiety, imagining great beasts coming to eat him alive, Enzi shot his head up straight to stare around at the sky and hills. Something dark was blotting the sun, but he couldn't see it for the glare. It was...
A bird?
Well, that was okay then. Enzi sighed with relief. But nervousness seized him again. THE BIRD WAS FLYING RIGHT FOR HIM.
The leopon screamed.
It was with a start that Nesibindi realized the clump of gray was a leopard. Or was it a lion? She wasn't sure. After all, most birds didn't get close to either one for fear of their lives. Some creatures liked to eat birds, or at least toy with them. And Nesibindi was not about to be tortured, oh no.
Not again.
She swirled overhead, mind working quickly for a proper plan. Would she land in the tree? But she didn't have much time. She was losing wind. Should she land on the grass and attempt to take off again? But all planning vanished at the sound of a loud, girlish scream.
"AUGH!" the bird yelled, wings flapping noisily. Her heart was leaping in her chest from the shock and she swerved in the air, crashing to the ground in a frenzy of somersaults. She remained still for several seconds, wings stretched and head tucked underneath her chest from the motions. But she soon darted back into her proper posture and stood stiff and straight, talons outstretched and beak at the ready, facing the juvenile.
And then there was a stare-down.
A tiny, whispering though entered the leopon's mind suddenly:
Why did all the bad things always happen to him?
Hearts racing, purple eyes stared into pink, pink eyes stared into purple. The stiff silence grew and grew until one could almost taste it, thick and hanging in the air like some kind of...Shady tree branch. Yeah, Enzi thought, a shady tree branch. But even though there was "shade", it was still very hot. The atmosphere was horrible. Fear pulsed through the leopon and he was grimacing, unable to make anything remotely like a poker face. In that regard, he had already lost the battle. But he was still lying still, watching the bird for any movement.
Though he was a skittish demon hunter, Enzi was still endowed with all of his mother's and father's powerful traits. His young muscles shone under his fur without even having to flex them and his paws were seemingly too big for his body, powerful and ready to slash. In his fearful grimace were large, sharp fangs, able to rip anything to shreds if he wanted to. So Enzi, without even noticing it, even in his laughable grimace, was an extremely intimidating figure to one so small as Nesibindi, and perhaps even to one larger. But Enzi didn't know that.
And so he remained frozen to the spot with fear and anticipation.
Nesibindi ruffled her feathers as if shining up armor, breaking the complete silence with her fluttering sounds. She didn't take her eyes off the young "beast" for a second. In fact, she didn't even blink; not once. She watched him, taking in every detail in his face, ever hair that stuck out of place, every whisker, the gleam in his eye, the snot in his nose...
...He was just a scared little whelp.
Well now, Nesibindi couldn't very well just fly off again. That would've made her look completely strange. Not to mention it would just feel awkward...So what remained? What was she to do? The bird was puzzled for only a moment before she thought of the only thing left.
"SO!" the avian shouted abruptly, expression still stern, though her tone was almost casual-sounding. "Are you a friend or foe?" she asked, eying the juvenile skeptically.
Enzi's body jolted at the sudden loud voice of the bird. The jolt caused his chest a good deal of pain and he winced his face, body shuddering. He wheezed in a breath through his teeth, claws scraping the earth. Enzi was too young and perhaps too naive to know that one shouldn't show one's weakness to someone who could potentially be one's enemy. But Enzi was much more concerned with his pain and worries of death to remember what his wise, experienced parents and pride members had taught him.
"F--" Enzi tried to speak, but the words hit his chest like a powerful blow. He sucked in a breath and shut his eyes, shuddering until the pain passed. Unfortunately, both words started with an "F", so it wasn't clear what stance he was taking. But it was obvious that the poor juvenile posed no threat to anyone in that situation. He hoped the bird would see that and leave him alone until his mother came looking for him.
