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 Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:16 pm
 Orange eyes watched in despair as the rabbit bound away leaving the young lioness stumbling over her own paws. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she just sniffled rather than let them fall. She had been trying, and failing, since early this morning to catch something to eat. Normally it would not bother the young female to go a day or two without eating, but she had a little one now. She could go hungry but she wouldn't let Chakl suffer!
Getting herself straightened out again, she shook the dust from her brown and white coat before beginning to look around again. There had to be something she could catch!
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:37 pm
 Truth be told, Chokuto was just an okay hunter. He was hardly the sort who'd easily catch prey whenever he wanted it. He worked well enough in a team, sure. He actually worked very well in a team, but on his own, he wasn't so good.
But he was hungry, so he had decided he might as well give some game a try. And it turned out to be a good idea, since he would get lucky today. Apparently, some male gazelle had gotten himself all worked up fighting another, and had ended up so injured he had a very bad limp. And Chokuto was the first to spot it! even he could nab a crippled gazelle.
Done the whole catching and killing, Chokuto nibbled on the gazelle a bit, before he began to ponder on where his hunts had taken him. Hmph, seems he had managed to cross over Prideland borders. He should probably head back in and finish eating there. He grabbed the dead gazelle by the throat and lifted it enough so that it was mostly off the ground and began to walk back towards his homelands. He paused briefly when he noticed a darker spot in the grass, some ways away, but figured he could just keep going. He was a hunter, not border patrol!
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:45 pm
Had she been the swearing type Xho might have come up with some pretty colorful ones about then. She had just seen the wounded gazelle and crouched down when suddenly another lion had appeared and took the creature down. Now he was taking it away so she couldn't even hope for scraps.
She stood up from her crouch shaking her head in disgust. It would be night before long and it was starting to look like she wouldn't have anything to feed them again tonight.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:22 pm
Chokuto was getting closer to the prideland borders when he realized tat maybe there wasn't a patrol nearby. Maybe it was up to him to check on that dark patch in the grass he had seen and make sure it wasn't a dangerous rogue lion or hyena. Or even a runaway youth, that needed to be taken back to it's family!
See, Chokuto was something you could call a slacker. He did what he needed to do to say he was doing something, but the bare minimum, much preferring a life of irresponsibility and fun. So every now and then, to make sure he could say he did some other stuff here and there, he probably should try a bit harder. He dropped the gazelle, but put a paw on it and didn't move away, turning his head to look at where the dark patch had been. Now the lioness had stood up and was much more visible.
"HeY! You!" He realized he had just called her attention before actually figuring out what he would say.
Um. "Are you a Pridelander?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:29 pm
Xho's head snapped around hearing the strange male address her. When he asked if she was a pridelander her heart sunk. She hadn't meant to wander into a pride's lands and sincerely hoped he wouldn't turn vicious, after all he was a lot larger than she was.
Dreading the confrontation, but unwilling to just flee she gave a weak but friendly smile, "No sir. I didn't realize I had wandered into a pride's home. Forgive my rudeness."
She hesitated a moment before deciding it would just be good manners to come a bit closer so they weren't yelling at each other. Up close it was easy to see she was rather young despite being grown, barely out of the gangly stage. It was also easy to look at her and tell she had recently had cubs.
"Forgive my intrusion, I am Xho."
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:46 pm
Oh, okay then. So this was just a rogue. Chokuto suddenly realized how awkward it had been of him to even bother in the first place. It's not like they were in Prideland territory just yet. It seemed silly to go around asking people whether or not they were pridelanders.
"Oh, uh. S'alright. You're not trespassing. Yet. I mean, we're close to the borders. So I figured I'd best check who you were, that's all." He said, somewhat awkwardly. And he felt even more awkward when she asked for him to forgive her for something, since she hadn't done anything that needed forgiving.
He looked at the lioness for a bit, and frowned slightly. So she was a mother. Yet she still looked younger than him. Humph. He wondered if he should feel awkward about that, too. Here was this random little-miss-young-lady all being a mother, and Chokuto was older and totally irresponsible. Heck, even Kwasi'roho and Tsukiko had gotten themselves knocked up recently.
"I'm Chokuto." He offered a sort-of smile. "Are you on your own?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:59 pm
Xho nodded her head as she sat down a few feet away curling her tail around her front feet. "Me and my son Chakl." She was greatly relieved not to be in his pride's lands thus saving her from likely a good deal of trouble.
She smiled up at the older male sweetly, "I will leave immediately, I am sorry I was so close. I will know better next time." She started to say more but her belly gave a loud grumble making her duck her head in embarrassment.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:11 pm
"It's no problem." Chokuto felt bad for her now. Just her and her cub? growing up in the pridelands, he had always thought the life of a rogue could be exciting and fun, but had always known it was also full of hardships. And as for raising a family, it was so much better to have the support net of a pride, he figured. If it was just her and her cub... Well, that means she had to leave the cub alone while she hunted! that had to be awful.
Speaking of hunting, which inevitably reminds one of food, she seemed to be hungry. Or, well, she kind of unintentionally announced he was hungry. He tapped the gazelle with a claw and considered what he should do. Take food back to eat and share with Makali and Wingu. Ooor...
"Here." He said sheepishly, shoving the carcass in the lioness' direction with a paw. "I guess you need it more than I do."
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:20 pm
She blinked at him startled but a bright smile blossomed on her face, "Really? Oh thank you Chokuto!" Normally she would have waited till he left to eat, but it had been a day or two since she last ate. Despite her obvious hunger, she ate slowly and carefully so as not to make a mess.Once she had ate her fill, she neatly tore off one of the hind legs laying it aside before stepping back. There was still quiet a bit of the gazelle left.
"Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help." More for the meat to take back to her son than anything, but she figured he would know that.
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Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 2:07 am
As the lioness ate, Chokuto continued to feel somewhat out of place, and tried to make sure to look anywhere but at her. It's not that he minded people eating in front of him, or anything. But he just didn't know this lioness, and the silence that inevitably fell when she started eating just heightened the weirdness of the moment! Geez, he really had to work on his dealing-with-rogues skills. It was somehow so much easier to talk to people in the pride!
"No problem." He said, and offered her another smile to make sure she knew he was actually happy to help. But then he wondered if he should help more. "Hey, uh... You know, my pride would... probably be okay if you hung around, I think." He'd never heard of the Pridelands being very anti-rogue. It was probably the friendliest pride he knew! "If you need help or anything. With your cub, I mean."
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