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 Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:19 pm
 Soft white paws moved lightly through the jungle, spotted tail flicking through the green with each step, green eyes searching for something only he knew was there, or at least he could hope only he knew. As he often was, the small white leopard was hunting, though not for what one might think a leopard would be hunting. This particular leopard was on the hunt for small prey, namely mice, and his nose twitched at the scent of one nearby.
Ears flicking, his nose twitched, focused on the scent and sounds of the mouse, he just hoped there wasn't a snake nearby on the same trail. He stepped closer, careful to make no sound in the leaves that littered the floor, his head lowered in a hunter's crouch, ready to pounce on his prey, tail flicking behind him. He coiled slightly, ready to pounce on his unsuspecting meal, dinner was served.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:36 pm
Chopi looked back behind her as she continued closer to the jungle. The gazelle she had recently caught dangled from her jaws. The stockier cheetah had to make a choice. It was either defend her prey from jungle beasties or lions and she decided to take her chances with the jungle. Her hackles raised as she finally set her kill down and surveyed her surroundings. Nothing seemed to be coming or going besides herself. The golden figure took another sniff at the air before taking the gazelle back into her mouth and slowly carrying it further into the darkness.
When she found a suitable spot, Chopi sniffed at the meat before clamping her jaws around it an beginning to eat.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:48 pm
It was over in a flash, the mouse was caught and swallowed, not a trace left behind that it ever existed save for the pink tounge that lashed from the leopard's maw to lick his lips. Purring contented at his meal, the small leopard moved onward through the jungle, white paws moving silently through the underbrush as one who knew the jungle's every secret.
Sniffing the air, he continued on his path, making his way toward the river, a drink and a swim would be refreshing after his light meal, perhaps even a fish for desert. He grinned happily at the thought, his pace quickened to a trot at the thought of two of his favorite things.
As he walked, his ears flicked at an unfamiluar sound, like that of another cat. Was it Karama? No, it couldn't have been, he knew her scent well, and she was bigger, her steps heavier than whatever was nearby.
His tail flicked, ears falling, he swallowed hard as he caught a glimpse of yellow moving amid the trees. What was it?
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:02 pm
Chopi was quite lost in her meal. She hadn't eaten something herlself in so long. She had been caring for Korou but now she wanted a little something to herself. At a sound her ears flickered and she began to take small and more tenative bites. She didn't want anything charging from the green and she was caught off guard. At the sound of it getting closer the cheetah lifted her head, red eyes darting this way and that.
It wasn't another cheetah.
Chopi had hoped that maybe Korou had followed her but she knew those faltering steps anywhere. These steps were harder and had much more weight. The cheetah chirped again. She was a fairly large cheetah but if a beastie decided to take her food then she would have no say.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:14 pm
The small leopard's ears flicked, green eyes peeking from behind a tree to watch the gold colored creature. Spots? But...it wasn't a leopard was it? His tail flicked as a sense of curiousity overcame his better judgement for the moment, taking one step forward, surely causing his white coat to stand out against the green of the jungle.
There was no threat in his posture, no intent, he had no interest in the cheetah's prey, nor had he really noticed it. He was simply curious, wondering what she was and why she was spotted, but not a leopard.
A small part of his mind reminded Keone of the wildebeast and the giraffe, and his ears fell, crouching as he took a step backward, but it was too late, she must have seen him by now. Would she attack him?
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:55 pm
Chopi turned her golden head at the flash of white. The feline took her by suprise. Whatever it was, it was close to her size. Her lean body could never fight it but she could easily get away if need be. A shudder went down her spine and ended at the tip of her tail with a flick. The white creature had spots too, but what could it have been? It certainly wasn't a cheetah. Chopi's mind fogged a bit as she thought of what to do. She had never seen a leopard before and frankly didn't even know what they were. To her, it was just a large white thing. Tail flicking again the cheetah chirped as if trying to get it to go away. A paw slowly covered her kill as she was still hungry.
"What do you want?"
Her normally sweet voice was gruff. What ever it was had interupted her meal and she definately wasn't happy about it.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:52 pm
Keone froze, his tail flicking nervously about his hind paws, his ears back. He looked very non-threatening, though to another predator guarding their prey that may not have mattered. His eyes darted between the nearby trees, debating which one he should climb to escape.
"I...I was just...wondering why you have spots...but you aren't a leopard."
Silently the small leopard wished that Karama had been there, she would have known what to do and what the odd cat was. But whatever it was, it couldn't be as bad as a snake...could it?
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:18 pm
Chopi stood completely and utterly confused by the other cat. How could he not know what she was? Her red eyes moved quickly to the gazelle under her before looking about her in contemplation. She didn't know whether the other was actually curious or was just playing with her. Her yellow tail flicked as she tried to spit up words.
"I'm a cheetah...I've always had spots."
The female wouldn't focus her eyes on any one spot. She was still a bit weary of the other and what else could have been out there. Her body shifted it's weight on each of her darker paws.
"And you're a?..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:36 pm
"A cheetah? Cheetahs have spots too?"
Keone tilted his head, his curiousity taking over again. He'd never seen a cheetah before. The cheetah was spotted like him, and she was a cat, but that was where the simularities ended. She was thinner than him, much leaner in her build. Overall she seemed close to his size, but Keone had always been small as far as leopards went.
"I...I'm a leopard."
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:29 pm
Chopi averted her gaze to a particularly interesting tree. She cleared her throat and tried to grasp the situtaion at hand.
"Not all of us have sopts. I guess I'm just lucky."
The cheetah had never seen a leopard nor heard of them so Keone was quite a thing to behold. Though they were both cats, they couldn't have been more different. Chopi was built for speed but his build was so much different than hers. A soft trill came to her throat and her ears pressed against her head.
"A leopard?...I've never heard of those before."
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:28 pm
"Really?"
Curiousity taking over, Keone trotted from behind the trees and sat on his haunches in full view with a particularly goofy grin on his maw. This was all very interesting and he had found it on his own, wouldn't Karama be proud of him. His grin grew broader and his tail flicked happily behind him at the thought.
"I've never heard of a cheetah before."
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:55 pm
Chopi looked down at her kill again. She had nearly forgotten her hunger in all of the confusion. When the white cat came fully into view the cheetah chirped softly. It was odd seeing something so similar to her and yet no the same. Leopards are even different from lions?
Chopi had normally grouped most others she saw as either bigger or smaller than herself. The female normally didn't stray too far from her own kind except for that hyena she had met a few weeks before while roaming.
"Well, I don't think we live in jungles or atleast...I don't"
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Keone titled his head curiously, eyes bright with questioning.
"Really? The jungle is a nice place to live, and there's no wildebeasts."
His tail tucked at bit at the thought of wildebeast as he remembered that terrible stampede he's been caught in and nearly trampled by one of the creatures. He didn't like wildebeast, not at all, in fact he was terrified of them.
"There's big snakes though..."
The small leopard shuddered, ears laying back, he was also terrified of snakes believe one had tried to eat him while he was sleeping in a tree.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:11 pm
Chopi nodded. "I don't think cheetahs are built for jungle living. We are much more suited for the open savannah." A smile crossed her maw as she fell to her haunches, feeling more comfortable around him.
"Wildebeasts are easy to avoid when you're fast." She held out her foreleg to show him.
"See. My legs are like springs. Those things aren't a challenge for me." Her teeth were bared in a grin as she placed her paw, once again, on the jungle floor. Normally she would never even run into wildebeasts on her hunts since she stayed well away from them. She couldn't risk injury especially since she had something to care for.
"I've never seen a big snake before. I'm not really a snake lover anyway."
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:39 pm
Keone's ears twitched, tail flicking a bit stung by her words.
"Well I'm fast, and I can climb."
He took a step forward as if trying to show the agile muscles in his own legs, to show that he was strong despite his small size and that he was good at something too. Truth was the small leopard was very fast, not as fast as a cheetah, but he could move through the jungle with great speed and agility.
"I don't like wildebeasts, then run in big groups and then can step on you." He looked away for a moment, tail flicking again, "You should avoid the snakes, they can eat you."
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