It was a muggy afternoon with humidity that clung disgustingly to fur. Zakura nosed through the bushes, sniffing for the scents of anyone who might've passed by that area. The cub was genuinely interested in people and places, and what people did and where they went.
...Especially females.
Tail flicking left and right, the cub continued on his way, an innocent look on his face. He was wandering pretty far from his mother, but she was napping. A little exploring never hurt anyone...Besides, he didn't really belong there, anyway. He...He had to return to the sea one day...
BUT NOT TODAY.
Right as that thought passed through his mind, Zakura spotted a big, colorful female leopardess. Before he could be seen (or so he thought), the cub darted under a bush to hide.
Jack-pot.
"Stop moving!" She growled, playfully as paws smacked onto the ground over the object. Left to her own demise as Sellion and Athi were said to be meeting with a 'shaman', the leopardess was to entertain herself- a feat which she was fully capable of. Todays entertainment and amusement was centered around an object, an ordinary object which in the mind of a skewed leopardess was found to be extraordinary! Firmly pressing her paws down upon the object, her paws suddenly were pulled forward as whatever it was seemed to dart for an escape. Quickly, Jae pulled back with a strain. Her ears flattened against her skull while her tail thumped upon the ground in a slight irritated manner.
"EMMITLISTENTOJAE!" She bellowed, fur bristling along her back. Black orbs narrowed as she growled as she pulled her paws back to her and off of the mysterious object.
It was a rock.
A serious expression drew across her maw as the leopardess scowled. “Emmit…. bad.”
It was simple but enough to get her point across or at least unveil the puzzling situation to any onlooker. She, of all creatures, was punishing a rock- albeit, a very disobedient and rebellious rock. But if possible, it only seemed to get more progressive and aggressive in the current scenario as the leopardess suddenly gave a shocked, near horrified expression which kindled with rage.
“YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU’RE TALKING TO ME!”
“…”
The rock remained quiet and Jae fumed.
“Oh no you diiiiiiiiiiidn’t!”
Shocked, upset and furious, Jae turned her back away from the rock. “Iwillcut’chu….”
Zakura was now completely absorbed in his female-watching. The way she spoke to the rock was extremely abnormal, and quite insane. But that made it all the better. The leotah had never before seen anyone quite like this leopardess, or her rock "Emmit".
It was an odd, interesting, and somehow frightening thing to watch, but the cub was utterly intrigued and couldn't look away. A smile crossed his maw and he inched closer, and closer, peaking out of the bushes ever-so slightly (though he was unaware of that). His nose breathed in a little and he blinked, thinking she had a nice scent. The cub drew back a little, tail curling around his ankle.
Females were so much more interesting than males.
When the leopardess threatened to cut the rock, a tiny laugh burst out of Zakura; a laugh he could not control. And that was to his disadvantage, for it meant he was heard...
The sudden sound of laughter, was it, seemed to break her concentration. If all but once the leopardess suddenly snapped out from her rage. Her brows furrowed slightly, if only for a moment, before her ears perked upward. A curious expression spread across her maw along with a dabble of confusion, head tilting to the side as black orbs glanced around. The leopardess was curious but well aware that soemthing, someone was watching her. It felt much like a game; hide and seek!
Wrinkling her muzzle, Jae slinked down to her stomach and attempted to slither into the tall grass in a sly manner but, truth be told, bright colors did little to hide amongst the dull, dried grass.
"Olly, olly, oxen free!" She squeaked, watching and waiting if anyone would come out of hiding or show themselves. But in the wake of her excitement she had forgotten something.
Emmit.
"Uh-oh...."
Ears folding back, the cub attempted to jumped out of the bush and run away. However, his tiny paws got tangled in the bush's branches and he stumbled, tripping over himself and the bush, until he somersaulted out into the open.
He remained still for several moments, face pressed into dirt and back legs sprawled up overhead. There was something under his stomach, and he guessed he had landed on "Emmit". But that didn't cross his mind too much. The cub remained still.
Maybe he thought that if he stayed very still, the leopardess wouldn't see him and he could get away without being seen? But he was too smart to think that seriously...He knew he had been spotted. His female-watching gig was up. It was time to face the music. Things like this had happened before, with varied results. Sometimes the females scolded him, chasing him off and calling him "little pervert" (whatever that was). Other times he was called cute, and got all the attention a cub could ever want. How this encounter would end, he didn't know. But the leopardess seemed friendly enough.
Or conniving, he didn't know yet.
Scrambling to his feet, the cub stood up and shook dirt out of his face. He cleared his throat nervously, offering a shy smile. "H-hello..." he said.
There was silence for several moments which caused the leopardess to believe that she had indeed only imagined it. For a moment there was a letdown period, a slight sadness wishing that there was someone else around other than Emmit but at least she had him, right? Slinking on her stomach, the leopardess peeked out from the brush if only to suddenly see something stumble in front of her which caused Jae to gasp, shrieking just a bit as she leapt back into the brush herself. Black orbs watched as she could see creature flop down upon Emmit which caused her posture to tense. Was it going to eat him? Was Emmit going to be smashed to pieces?
She didn't know!
A whine escaped from her throat as she crawled on her stomach to peek through the brush, eyes barely opened as fear caused her not to look into the eyes of the monster. But conned by not liking to be left in the dark, Jae opened her eyes.
It was- it was...
It was a cub?
Stumbling up to her paws, Jae tilted her head as she was still rather uncertain. Was the cub a killer skilled in obliterating rocks? Or was he just simply looking for fun too? Her scattered brain couldn't quite compute on what to think! Crawling out a bit more, the leopardess seemed to slowly crawl around him as she looked up and down- intaking the stranger a bit more. She didn't feel like she was in danger but, at the same time, one could never be too careful, right?
As the cub smiled, Jae blinked. "H-Hiiiiiiiii," she drawled out, a bit nervously as she stumbled up to her paws. Behind her, her tail twitched and fluttered. Stepping a bit closer, the leopardess pressed her nose against his in awe. "Lost?"
Zakura gaped, green eyes bulging and tiny paws quivering where they stood. He was half excited, and half scared out of his wits. He blinked several times a second, feeling the cold nose of the leopardess against his. He swallowed loudly, heart pounding with glee and nervousness.
There was a FEMALE...Pressing her NOSE against his.
FOASBFOAUSFAMAFAFOABSfAOSF.
Tail sticking out straight behind him, the cub hesitated, then shook his head slowly. He wasn't lost, not at all. He knew where he had come from, and where had to go should he wish to go back home. But going home was the LAST thing on his mind. He was going to stay there a long as it took, waiting for...Something...Whatever. He just liked being around girls. Especially ones that were...So pretty...
"No..." Zakura breathed. "Are you?" It was a strange question, but an innocent one.
She was oblivious to the realization that the cub was- well, a bit of a basket case with a bad habit but such a thing didn't concern her! Nor did she care, really. As she pressed her nose against his, the leopardess pursed her lips slightly with her tongue protruding from between her lips. The thought was challenging when the cub asked her if she was lost. Lost? Was she? Jae wasn't sure anymore. The leopardess flicked her ears as she giggled softly, rocking her head from side to side while her nose remained vigilantly pressed against the cubs. "Lost? I dunno..." she chirped. "What constitutes being lost and not being lost?"
Did it count if she tended to get lost on purpose or accident? With a short term memory and one whose ability to remember was fickle, Jae herself was prone to becoming lost and rather disoriented farily easy. But was she really lost?
For a moment she wrinkled her muzzle as she flicked her ears, head withdrawing as she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "If I'm lost then I'm found," she laughed. It seemed simple yet complex- a question such as that certainly took much needed brain power and focus! But enough of the serious and in depth mentality as such an action was once in a blue moon and another wouldn't surface for at least another ninety days or so.
"If you're not lost and I'm not lost.... what are we?"
This was getting confusing!
But before she could move on, she remembered something or, rather, someone and gasped. "EMMIT!" She gasped. "EMMIT ARE YOU OKAY?" The cub had been sitting on him this whole time! Who knew if the little rock was going to make it or if he had already cracked. A bit frantic, the leopardess whined.
".... You're sitting on Emmit......"
Zakura kneaded his paws in the dirt, eyes wide and observant on the female's face. Her colors were bright, like rainbows and the sun. She was pleasant to look at. In all of the cub's memory store logs of females he had observed in his life, this one was truly one-of-a-kind.
Today...Was a good day.
Taking on a rather drunk demeanor at the attention he was receiving, Zakura gave a crooked grin and twitched his tail. He gave a shrug and shook his head.
"I d'no..." he murmured at her question, truly not knowing the answer. Her mind was an enigma, and it was startling when the cub realized he was having no trouble following her train of thought.
Emmit? OH. The...rock...He had wondered what that bump underneath him was. Well, he knew before, but he had forgot, and now he had remembered, but he thought he forgot and--
"Sorry...!" Zakura squeaked, jumping off the rock and stumbling away from it. He spun around to face the leopardess and the rock, loath to be away from the female's nose, but still content to be so close beside her. "Is he hurt?" the cub asked, genuinely worried. He was still a cub after all, and innocent cub games such as this were usual for him to play along with.
A great sigh of relief exhaled from out of the leopardess seeing that Emmit wasn't in shatters but still in one piece. "No, Emmit's hardydhardy!" She piped. "I just get reallyreallyreally scared sometimes," she added, looking around a bit cautiously as her ears flattened slightly against her skull for a moment. "Bad things happen to the unsuspected." Such a thing was a lesson she knew well or at least had seen happen on occassion. Freak accidents and misfortunes were terrible yet one could never be careful- it was something of a bad habit and tendency she had leeched from the young cheetah, Athi.
Staring down toward the ground, Jae batted her paws at the rock several times before she swept at it just enough for it to go tumbling into the tall grass. She felt good. Emmit needed a time out especially after having to deal with all of his sass previously.
Sass was something that was not included in their friendship.
Whirling about and remembering the cub, Jae focused- wide-eyed and attentive as she blinked. "Sooooooo whats yer' naaaaame?" She grinned, scooting a bit closer to the cub. "'m Jaaaaaaae. Or Jae-Jae. Or Just 'J' ... Ihavelotsofnicknames!"
If his mother saw who he was speaking with, she would've fainted for sure. No mother would ever want her cub interacting with an insane leopardess; or an insane anything, for that matter.
Zakura, on the other hand, was a blissfully ignorant cub who knew nothing of being scared of the unpredictable and the insane, and was merely happy to be so close to a female.
He watched the rock get carelessly tossed aside, and it never occurred to him that the leopardess could easily do that to him. Once again, he was a blissfully ignorant cub. He never once thought he was in danger of anyone at any time. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained yet to be seen.
Smiling a little and ears perking up, the cub sat down in front of the leopardess. "I'm Zakura. Nice to meet you, Jae." he said maturely.
Once again, it never occurred to the cub that he might be in danger. If he was older, maybe he would've been more aware that danger lurked everywhere; around every corner and within every shadow. And it was within those exact moments that danger showed its face.
Happy green eyes catching something behind the leopardess, the leotah glanced past her just for a moment, still smiling, still happy. But then his face contorted, pupils thinning and mouth opening in horror.
In the shadows of the jungle trees behind them was a black and pink cheetah. He looked extremely displeased. He simply stood there, watching the two. Zakura stared on in terror, waiting for something to happen, and confused as to what to do. But he didn't have to do anything, because the cheetah was suddenly racing over.
"JAE!" The cheetah screamed, voice high-pitched with anger and nothing at all like what Zakura had expected. "WHAT do you THINK you're DOING?" he wheezed, looking suddenly wobbly and out of his mind. He spun around in front of the female and got so close up in her face that their foreheads were touching. "Demons do not prance around baby-talking mortal cubs. This cub is weak. This cub is not pure. LEAVE HIM." the cheetah commanded. He then let out a strange sound, like a muffled sob, and grabbed the female's scruff in his teeth as though she were a cub. He then attempted to drag her away, looking surprisingly successful in his endeavor.
Zakura's lower lip trembled and he shivered where he sat, frozen on the spot with fear and anxiousness. Was he going to die? He didn't know. And so he waited for whatever was going to happen.
"Zakuuuuuuraaaaaaaaaaaa," the leopardess drawled, quite merrily although with a slight mystical tone. His name, she liked it! It was unique but also had a nice ring to it. A lopsided, happy grin stretched across her maw as she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "I like eeeeeet!"
Had she not closed her eyes perhaps the leopardess could have caught wind of the young cubs face that something was happening but, unfortunately, she remained oblivious. The cues which could have alerted her to something in the works were unseen and it wasn't until the familiar, blaring scream broke free that the leopardess opened her eyes in a non-chalant, dazed manner and looked around. Sure enough she managed to catch sight of the cheetah and blinked several times. "Sellie-faaaace?" She was confused, slightly bewildered but excited. Had Sellion come to play too? Her body wriggled side to side with happiness.
"I'MHAVINGFUNWITHZAKURAAAAAACAN'TYOUSEE?" She exclaimed, shrieking with delight with a girlish giggle. But from watching him proceed to suddenly zipping around her and pressing foreheads together, the leopardess blinked- she was confused, as always.
Demons don't prance or baby-talk? Jae pouted as her bottom lip protruded outwards while black eyes narrowed towards the cheetah although sadness seemed to well up within her eyes.
"Demons can't have funsies?"
Even before she could try to say something else Jae was helpless as the cheetah took her by the scruff of her neck much l ike a disobedient cub. The leopardess whined just a bit as Sellion began dragging her and waved a limp paw toward the cub. "Bye Zakuraaaa," she sniffled, letting herself be dragged along as she grimmaced.
Playtime had ended.
Knots of worry tied themselves in Zakura's stomach as he watched the cheetah come so close; felt the air of the cheetah as he whisked in front of the leopardess, dangerously close to the cub. Zakura was still frozen, gaping, in shock. He didn't understand how it was possible for the cheetah to be strong enough to drag that large, pretty leopardess away. But it happened. It was scary, and it happened.
Mouth forming a flipped "D", Zakura watched the leopardess get dragged off until both she and the cheetah disappeared into the brush. And then Zakura was alone, sitting in the clearing in the grass, all by himself...Just him--And...Emmit?
Green eyes shifted to rest on the rock, and the cub let a smile flicker onto his face at the strange memory of what had just happened. He smiled at the rock, somehow enjoying its company...Until he saw that it had two holes and a crack in it, resembling an insane-looking smiley-face. A bird called and sounded like a laugh, but Zakura mistook it for Emmit's own voice.
The leotah promptly screamed and ran off into the trees.
