"Please, couldn't you just teach me a little? Don't you owe me that much?"Nasrin's eyes widened a fraction when the spindly cheetah she was trailing behind scoffed rather harshly at her plea.
"No, I really don't." Nasrin frowned at his bored response. How? How could a cheetah take such a tone with her? She was a lioness, she was a female just getting into her prime. This male, a cheetah no less, was old. He would never be able to take her in a fight... And yet she was somewhat afraid of him. She'd already seen just a bit of what he could do to others when he had the advantage of surprise.
"But I helped you, I could have chased you from my kill. Couldn't you just-""There you go again, prattling on about something you think I should care about. You are a cub-aged irritant with far too much stock in the importance of your own actions," the cheetah replied, slowing to a stop and sitting down with practiced movements. He was an old cheetah, the look in his eyes as old as the ages in her mind. It had been a truly accidental encounter. They'd been hunting the same young gazelle and she had just happened to take the creature down. Only when he stood from his hiding place and turned to walk away had she realized that he'd been hunting it as well. Feeling guilty about taking a kill from such an aged predator, she'd offered to share. He hadn't even been cautious about it, merely approached and took to eating, his manners impeccable as he silently partook in her kill.
There had been things about him that intrigued her, such as how he hunted, being so old. And then, perhaps, anything else that he could share with her. A cheetah his age, he must have some great knowledge he could share. Finding him again had been a testament to her tracking ability, and he'd already grumbled about having to move on if she had it in her head to continue to hound him.
Now.... Now he was looking at her with an expression that sent a chill up her spine. It was such a bored, exasperated look, as if she was insignificant.
"You offered your meal. I had been quite content to hunt something else."
"I could make you-" Nasrin's words were cut off by his scoff as he narrowed his almost black eyes at her.
"Threaten my life, child, and you'll be dead before you utter another sound. You lions, your arrogance astounds me. Do you honestly think that you have all other predators cowed because you possess greater strength? Even the mightiest of your kind is vulnerable against a full pack of dogs. Against poison and disease. Death holds back for no one. Not even gods."
Ankou watched the lioness wilt before of him. Good, she needed to get it through her head that she wasn't on the top of the food chain. He didn't want to tell or teach her anything. But then it seemed like she would just continue to bother him until he caved and he really did like where he was currently living. Even more, a sick, twisted part of him that he absolutely despised missed his days as a priest, when he would perform the rites and teach younger members of his clan how to do the same, the journey of life and the spiritual understanding of it all. Her eagerness even amused him, if just a little. He sure as hell wasn't going to let her see that, though, and so his face remained stoic and bored, an expression he'd perfected over his lifetime.
"Do you understand?" he asked, one thin eyebrow rising ever so slightly.
"Yes... I understand." It took so much of his effort not to smirk in pleasure over the resignation in her tone. It was such an honest response and he was such a good judge of lies and truth.
"Good. I could never teach you anything if you maintained that sense of superiority."
Nasrin frowned over the cheetah's words, her head jerking up a bit in surprise. What? That... That sounded like he had just decided that he was going to teach her after all. Had something changed his mind? Was that all it had taken, a little bit of understanding and a blow to her pride?
Fair enough!
"Does that mean..." She trailed off, not wanting him to think she was arrogant again. She really wasn't, the threat of force had been something of a bluff on her part. She was a good little thief and charmer, but really a pretty pathetic fighter.
"I will teach you what I know until I decide to move on or one of us grows bored with the other. You have learned your first lesson, that all creatures are vulnerable, none are invincible. No matter how much one might think of one's self as such. Now run along, I won't be teaching you any more tonight. Return tomorrow at dusk if you wish." Nasrin was all smiles and excitement as she furiously nodded.
"Thank you! I'll be here for certain!" she exclaimed, turned towards home, and headed off.
Ankou watched her go with a shake of his head. What had he gotten himself into?
"Does it hurt?" Ankou never took his eyes off the lioness' fleeting form, though his ears did tilt back towards the source of the question."Hmm?" Another cheetah joined him, a much younger male. He could be his grandson, if the younger male looked a thing like Ankou. However, despite the lack of any similarities, Berilebuayd was in fact Ankou's grandson. He was just the only one that knew it. When he'd Seen his grandfather, Ber had immediately sought him out, curious about the missing piece of his family. And he'd yet to admit just who he was.
"Being that haughty," Ber added, a small smile on his maw. Ankou rolled his eyes and finally turned away from watching the lioness leave, his dark gaze giving his sort of apprentice a droll look.
"Yes, it hurts. About as much as putting up with you," Ankou replied, earning a full on grin from the younger male. He wasn't sure why he put up with Ber, other than the fact the boy amused him and that he was a seer. It was definitely a useful trait to have around.
"You wound me! I'm not that much of a problem," Ber cried, though he couldn't help chuckling as he pressed a paw to his chest. He let it fall once more and tilted his head a bit to one side. "So, a new student?"
"Apparently so."
"Not enough for you, then? I'm jealous."
"No, you're not. Don't play that game."
"Heh, no, I'm not. But I am curious why you're going to the trouble." Ankou pondered the question for a moment or two, the tip of his tail tapping on the ground behind him.
"Her eagerness intrigues me. And you've learned almost all I can teach you."
"Now who's fibbing? It'd take a lifetime to learn all you could teach me." Ankou quirked a bit of a smile and his head almost imperceptibly dipped in a nod.
"True, true. Maybe I'm just a little twisted, wanting to torture myself by taking on another annoying cub to pass my grand knowledge onto."
"Now that sounds more like you."
(WC: 1,242)
