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 Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:54 pm
A gazelle blinked, and suddenly, shot off, and a creature was almost literally on its heels.
The lanky creature was obivously a cheetah; onlyit would manage that ground speed. However, the gazelle zigzagged, and this was a male cheetah. Male cheetahs were typically a bit larger and heavier than females, and so, this was even harder on them than it was for a female.
So, as skilled as Makani was, his chase still wouldn't manage to keep up long, as much as he was catching up quickly. His body overheated, and soon he felt like there was something ot squeezing his lungs, and skidded to a halt as the gazelle dashed off, its little body vanishing quickly.
"Nice. " He snorted in annoyance, folding hisears back. While he was generally a sucesfull hunter, the gazelle had spotted him a bit too soon.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:08 pm
He was a sucessful hunter, but the lioness who had just moments ago gotten a lovely mouthful of dirt, was not.
~Oh thank the gods Bushido, mom, or Shin weren't around to see that.~ Kani sighed mentally, spitting out bits of grass and dust, licking the dirt from her nose and shaking her pelt off of loose dirt. Watching the hare speed away (and it had the nerve to be LAUGHING at her! What a rude striped rodent!) she wondered if she shouldn't consider asking her wandering friend, Ukilia, for some hunting help.
Bushido was resting, having been out all night again on the late patrol, this time with her company, and Kani had opted to go hunting. She wanted to surprise her mate with a freshly caught meal when he woke up, but so far she'd lost that hare, an antelope, a Zebra colt, those fish, that bird, and that limping, half dead Warthog.
Actually, that warthog had been really bossy, Kani had never heard about a meal glaring it's attacker down and bossing it into leaving it be. And that Zebra colt was just so cute... Wow. She was absolutely pathetic.
Kani groaned and sunk to her belly, paws going over the top of her head to hide her eyes. "Some huntress. What kind of mate am I?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:15 pm
The cheetah panted on the spot for a while, when he heard a groan. Maybe something had been ijured, and he could eat afterall. Makani bit back his exaustion, and stalked quietly through the grass, untill he found a source.
A lioness. On her belly. Covering her eyes. That was.. sad? "Whats wrong, love? " He asked, sighing, and seemed to melt out of the grass, now careless if he was concealed or not. He was quite sure he'd made out the word 'mate', so a bit of his usual flirting was idiotic.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:24 pm
"Huh?"
Kani looked up, shifting her black socked paws enough that she could see who and just exactly what was addressing her. It smelled feline, so at least it wasn't some elderly giraffe come to cheer her up and unintentionally patronize her. That would just be all her pride could take.
A cheetah, as it turned out. "Oh... I'm just not having much luck hunting." She admitted, seeing no harm in being honest.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:28 pm
" I.. see. "
He paused, looking over the lioness for a moment. She did look like she was kind of run-down after failed attempts. He sat down, looking down at the lioness. "I havn't been so lucky today myself. What do you need it for? " He asked patiently. He had nothing better to do untill he fully recovered from his own fail, and a cheetah needed a bit of rest.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:32 pm
Her ears pinned back then in a feline blush, but she settled to sit up some on her stomach, her paws coming to tuck a bit in front of her black stained chest.
"My mate... He's usually busy patrolling at night and sleeps during the day, I thought it might make things a little easier on him if I brought something home to eat once in a while. But..." She sighed, shutting her eyes. "I'm absolutely terrible at this. My father did all the hunting back home, and I never bothered to learn before now, since I was always babysitting."
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:37 pm
" Understandable, love. " Wait, her father did the hunting? Funny. He'd always heard it the other way around, the lionesses hunted. To him, a cheetah, a lion always seemed like a rather lazy creature.
"Tell you what, " He said, with an idea. He could use this to his advantage, and get the lioness a little something to please her mate. "I'll help you today. Then you can have a better idea of how the whole hunting business works. " He grinned. "We catch two, one for me, one for you-- er, your mate. "
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:40 pm
"Really? You'd help me?" Kani seemed to brighten, beaming as she sat up now. She didn't mind at all that it meant twice the work, to bring down two, it meant she'd have some help! What a kind offer! "Oh, thank you!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:47 pm
He nodded, curling his tail around his paws for a moment, then standing up. "I will. " He smiled, rolling his shoulders slightly as his breath seemed to start returning.
For a moment, the cheetah stood on his hind paws, looking over the grass to see, with contentment, that the gazelle had stopped. "there is a gazelle over there. I'll chase it your way miss.. " Wait,what was the lioness' name?
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:51 pm
Her ears swiveled along with the rest of her head as she looked to see what he'd seen. Ahhh, yes, a gazelle. The one thing that HADN'T nearly impaled or caused her bodily harm today.
"Sheshe'kani, you can just call me Kani for short if you want...?" She also left space open for him to share a name, eyes marveling for a moment over his dozens, and dozens of spots. She'd never seen a cheetah before up close, and had to say they had a strange build, but graceful too.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:57 pm
"Kani! You share a nickname. My name is Makani. " He'd allow himself to be amused over this for a bit. "As I was saying, I'll chase it over. " He nodded smartly. "You are big and strong enough to tackle it, just do so. Hold it down, and if you can't kill it, " He hesitated for a moment. Talking over hunting plans wasn't all that comfortable, discussing how they were supposed to kill something.
"Then wait for me to come do that. " He said, finally. Makani gazed at the gazelle a bit. "Its probably too small for both you and your mate. After we get the gazelle, I'll find something larger. " The lanky creature said, and started to move back into the grass. Spots, suprisingly easy to focus on once you knew what they were, seemed to melt into the grass, looking merely like they were shadows, or swaying. "Shall I go? "
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:44 pm
Keeping her voice down, Kani giggled at the outburst, already feeling much more optimistic about the ordeal. Her laughter only faded as he shifted directions with their topic again, and she settled in to listen.
Kani was a strategist at hear, her only problem was that she lacked the actual know-how that only experience could truely teach. This, however, was simple. Tackle it and kill it, the end.
"Alright, got it." She answered, nodding and looking after him as he started off. "I'll be right here." She answered, paws kneading the ground with anticipation now.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:56 pm
He smiled, then trotted through the grass, his presence represented by a ripple in the grass as he made a wide cirula around the gazelle. At first, it seemed to notice him, but then as the strange ripple stopped, it relaxed, and lowered its head to eat.
Soon the ripple reappeared, but it was better to notice if you didn't focus on it. It was gaining speed, and the gazelle started to dash. Soon, it was well on its way towards Sheshe'Kani, a cheetah on its heels.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:03 pm
Alright, all she had to do was duck down and stay hidden until the gazelle was close enough for her.
Her pelt helped her blend into the grasses rather well, her shoulders rocking a bit as she got a good grip on the ground. As the sounds of trampling hooves drew closer and closer, Kani prepared. By the time the Gazelle came close enough to smell her it was far too late already. Her hind legs sprung, claws unsheathed to dig in as she bodily slammed into the herbivore's side, just as it was trying to turn away to change course. With a rattling half cry she latched onto it's neck with her fangs, refusing to let go as it buckled, and keeping her eyes shut. If she couldn't see it she wouldn't be tempted to let it go. This was a necessary part of life. A thought crossed her mind all the same, a bit regretful.
~Sorry...~
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:09 pm
The cheetah skidded to a hald when he saw the thing he chased being forced onto the ground, and leapt to the side to give the lioness room, panting, if she touched him right now, she'd tell how hot his body was.
He paced around them for a moment, head low, waiting to see if she needed any help, walking to relax his paws.
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