Any animal in the savanna would have been able to smell the salty dryness of blood thick in the air. A predator had made a kill and it was only a matter of time before scavengers of all walks of life descended upon the source of the scent. Noir had managed to pick off a weak baby wildebeest from its herd. The herd had since moved on. The mother had lingered a few moments longer before rejoining the herd in mourning of her babies death. But even she knew to linger to long could cost her own life.
Victoriously the dark green tinted cheetah feasted on the soft fleshy meat. He'd been lucky to have gotten such a kill on his own. Such a kill was not always easy to come by in groups let alone on ones own. But here he had bested those odds and managed to feed him self the soft tender meat that would sustain him.
Globs of blood clung to his mouth as he greedily tore at the things bones. Vultures were already over head watching in wait. They'd try their luck when they were sure that they'd be able to get away with a few scraps. Other scavengers were on the ground and closing in on that delicious scent. Among the many were Junichi and Rena. Two jackals part of a make shift pack who answered the bloods call. It was so thick they might drown in the scent.
Junichi crawled a little faster then Rena. Eager. A little overly so. Rena kept close but her pace was not as quick as the males. Her pace was more practiced. In time they'd get there. What ever predator or predators that had brought down the kill were more than likely still with it. It would be unwise to get on the wrong side of something much bigger than ones self. Waiting was the best option. At least in her own opinion.
Noir him self was none the wiser to the approaching duo. Nor was he heavily aware of the vultures clustering in overhead a branch. The cheetah still greedily snapped his jaws and seized the meat. As much as he could fit with in his mouth at least. There was no telling when luck like this might strike again. Eating anything you could get your maw on was law out in the savannas. Noir was well practiced in this having grown up in this environment.
The jackals were close enough to see the red soaking in to the ground now. Freshly spilled blood from the young victim. They knew this was a fresh kill. The blood was still practically warm. Junichi stuck his tongue out and lapped a bit of it up. Rena watched a moment before going on with out him. Now it was Junichis turn to be in the rear. Soon other shapes came to be visuable from the thick of the grass. The wildebeest and cheetah. Just one by the looks of it.
This pleased Rena. Junichi seemed pleased as well. He happily licked his chops in wait.
So far there seemed to only be vultures clinging to the over head. They were indeed early. Nothing bigger, like a lion or leopard, had come to challenge the cheetah for its lucky catch. Cheetahs weren't to big. On their own they weren't the biggest threat either.
Rena and Junichi looked at each other and smiled. This would be like taking candy from a baby. Sort of. They'd need to work fast if they wanted to actually be able to enjoy the kill before something bigger came. It was only a matter of time. Either that, or if more of this cheetahs own kind came by.
Rena gave Junichi a nod. The go ahead. Junichi clung to the ground and snuck up a little closer to the feasting cheetah. He was closing in on that tail. Noir still had not noticed. His nostrils were caked with the blood of his victim and his ears were alerted mostly to the squawking vultures overhead. He was none the wiser to the jackal who was about to wrap his jaws around his tail.
The male jackals jaws opened nice and wide and then clamped down upon the cheetahs tail.
Noir howled in pain and turned to face his tails attacker. The cheetah growled and lunged for the smaller canine creature only to get a muzzle full of dirt. Junichi had dodged like a professional. He lead Noir circles round the catch. The jackal knew better than to lead him away where the vultures might be able to steal the goods.
Rena was already fast at work. She took bits of meat and began trying to pull a leg out of the beasts carcass. Noir noticed and turned his back on Junichi to deal with this pest problem. He angrily snorted and puffed out now facing both trouble makers.
"Whats all this then?" The cheetah asked the two. His poor tail was throbbing all because they wanted a piece of meat? The cheetah wanted to make examples of them both but to much energy had been wasted already. The meal that he had eaten was already turning in to a lump in his stomach.
"What do you mean?" Rena still had her jaws wrapped round the leg.
"Yeah. What do you mean? We're taking your kill pal," Junichi was equally as puffed out. Nerves maybe.
"I can see that!" Noir took a seat. It seemed he wasn't even trying to chase either of them at this point. "But you really had to go and bite my tail? I mean was that even really needed? You come to steal my kill and bite my tail in the process? My tails a victim in your crimes!" Noirs tail weakly laid coiled around his paws. The cheetah looked really hurt. Not physically but emotionally. He looked at the two liked they'd just crushed all his hopes and dreams.
"What my tail ever do to you two?"
"Nothing?" Junichi felt bad. He'd never felt bad before on a job like this but now he felt kind of bad. The blue jackal could only frown. Rena was still trying to wrangle the leg out of the carcass.
"You ever try asking?" Noirs blue eyes rested on Junichi.
"Asking gets you killed when you're our size I'm afraid." The blue jackal still looked quite shameful in all of this. "We're sorry."
"I'm not," Rena piped up. Noir gave her sad puppy eyes.
"Hey look there kitty cat. We gotta live too and this is how we do it. You hunt , we scavenge. I'm sure a cat like yous gotta scavenge some times too. I'm not sorry for it." Rena sounded more and more like her mother. She didn't even seem to realize. "Asking usually means we end up on the menu too."
"Shes got a point," Junichi sounded almost sorry to agree.
"Jackals and canines aren't really something I'd eat... But.. If you resort to biting my tail to get some meat than.. fine you can have the leg. But see if I'm this nice again." Noir looked like he was a bout to cry. The cheetah was failing to look completely innocent with so much blood caked to his muzzle. Still, he was being quite pitiful.
To Rena and Junichi this was well received news. The two of them grabbed the leg and pulled it free. Between the two of them they awkwardly carried it through the savanna. Noir was left to the rest him self. Sadly he took a few more bites before going off on his own as well and leaving the thing behind for the vultures. Who knew that jackals were such jerks.
With in no time the vultures had fluttered on down. Their mighty beaks were snapping and scraping at the meat and each other. Noir had made his distance by now. He watched from afar and watched as even more vultures were quick to arrive. Noir watched those greedy bastards fight and squawk and fight for just a single scrap of meat.
His own stomach churned and lurched a little from the site. Yes he knew that no there would be no civil way when it came to food. But that didn't mean he felt completely comfortable about any little bugger going ahead and biting his tail. His feelings. They were hurt. His wonderfully beautiful tail was even more hurt. It would take a while for wounds to heal. He'd be sure to be cautious next time. At least the dipshits had gotten what they'd wanted.
Rena and Junichi were far off by now. They had something to show for their efforts. It had been practically given to them. Not that either would admit that to Bura. She'd had told them to have taken the whole kill. That cheetah still felt heavy on Junichis conscience. For what ever reason he felt bad about this whole thing. Rena, on the other hand, was just happy that they'd appease her mother. This leg was good enough for them all to get a little. She was sure that Bura was more than able to catch something more. A feast they'd have tonight.
Word Count: 1541
