[PRP] A Twist in the Path [Yatima & Serithi] COMPLETE

[Storei]

When the sky began to cloud with thick heavy clouds, Yatima knew that it was time to pick up the pace. She had been wandering for a while. There was no real direction for her to take, so she just meandered in whatever direction she felt like going. But now she was getting horribly hungry. She licked her dry lips and looked up to the sky, yearning for it to rain so she could at least have a drink of water.

A growl.

For a moment, Yatima jumped but it was her own stomach growling from hunger. She paused and looked around. Nothing...Except for that moving shadow just a couple yards away. Moving low, Yatima rubbed her tummy upon the dirt. Several moments later, she lurched to life and pounced the moving shadow!

Little did she know that it was simply a leopard.  

[TrinityTiers]

(( Reader's Note: Planned actions, not god-moding))



As the sky overhead darkened to the ominous grey color of his pelt, Serithi decided it was time to leave his game trail in favor of more hospitable conditions. Already the wind about him was talking loudly in his ears, the strange smells carried on the powerful currents from miles away assaulted his sensitive nose. He couldn't smell and could barely see. That was two senses out of five lost to the expert hunter and he didn't like those odds.

He turned off the familiar path in favor of another, one that headed back to a favorite banyan tree, one that would provided a safe and dry shelter from the storm. He was looking forward to watching it roll across the savanah.

As he jogged lightly down the trail, he thought he heard a noise off to one side, but it was quickly lost to the rising murmurs of the wind. He sensed his attacker only seconds before he was hit. Only the cloud of dust in the air and a new wind alerted him.

The unexpected weight landed squarely on his back, causing the large leopard's legs to buckle. With a loud snarl, that rivalled the volume of the wind whipping about his ears, he snapped his head about and snatched a leg in his massive jaws, flipping his opponent off with a shrug of his shoulder and a powerful head jerk, surprised at the light weight of his foe. He pinned the other cat between all four paws, limbs as unmoving as trees and dived his head down, teeth bared for a killer strike. Black eyes glinted dangerously in the quickly fading light.

At that very moment, a flash of lightening raced across the darkening sky, illuminating Serithi's attacker well enough for him to get a good look at her. His killing blow stopped mid-strike and his head shot up in surprise.

" What the hell do you think you're doing???", he growled, clearly caught somewhere between rage and disbelief.  

[Storei]

It was only when she was in mid-leap that Yatima realized what was it that she was actually leaping at. It was a dark hued leopard that matched the cloudy felt of the storm rolling just above the tree tops. She only had time enough to curse in her own mind before she tackled the other large cat and rolled into a scuffle. Now she was only working on trying to defend herself. Her motion of attack would surely bring some sort of reaction so now all she was focused on was defense.

Thankfully, the other had paused long enough to see her and the starving cheetah cried out, "A mistake! I couldn't see you! This was a mistake!" She tensed her slim body underneath him. How quick she had been pinned! She was not dealing with some stronger opponent...She was dealing with an expert.  

[TrinityTiers]

Serithi stood above her, panting as the adrenaline tearing its way through his body slowly disappated, the tenseness falling away from his muscles as the shadows fall away from the rising sun. The sky overhead grew blacker, blotting out the sun until he almost blended with the growing darkness. The rage in his eyes changed slowly into exasperation and disbelief as his black gaze quickly took in her frightened eyes and taut body. There was a scent of fear in the air that even the violent wind could not swept completely away.

He opened his mouth to speak and a crash of thunder pealed loudly....and the rain began to fell in heavy bucket loads from the sky. The hunter sighed, giving a rueful glance at the unapologetic sky and stepped off the the cheetah.

" Come on," he said in an exasperated tone, stepping carefully over and off of her. " I'm not standing around in this downpour to sort out your foolishness."  

[Storei]

With the kick of her skinny legs, the cheetah rolled onto her feet. The ground around her was becoming wet with the rain that now fell all around them in a terrible downpour. It hadn't looked like it was going pour, but then again Yatima was no teller of weather. Her ears folded back over head and she looked up towards the figure of the retreating leopard. She felt something heavy in her heart, a guilt for attacking this innocent leopard. What had she been thinking, Yatima thought to herself.

With the shake of her heavy head, she followed after the leopard, slowly and carefully, as if she weren't sure that she had been invited. Feeling unsure, Yatima followed despite her uneasiness and tilted her head at him. With the furrow of her brows and the gentle laid back motion of her ears, she aimed a silent question at him.  

[TrinityTiers]

" Damn silly creature, " Serithi thought to himself as he watched the cheetah get to her feet. His dark gaze combed over her clearly hungry form with a mental tut-tut. He answered her headshake with a mental head shake of his own. " Not feeding herself anywhere near well enough, attacking unknown objects in the dark, miracle she made it to adulthood. But perhaps, the savanah is more forgiving than the desert." He thought. " Those green eyes though..." He jerked his mind violently away from that particular train of thought.

The hunter could hear her steps lagging behind his own as he turned and walked through the long grass following a path that only he could see. He turned back, his teeth bared impatiently.

"The longer you p***y-foot about in the rain, the wetter I become. Now, hurry up!"  

[Storei]

Alright, now there was an invite. It wasn't a particularly nice invite, but it was an invite nonetheless. Usually, she hardly got a word out of the other lions, so this was refreshingly pleasant. Although she could feel the ache and pinch of every reluctant muscle in her body, Yatima pushed forward faster for the sake of this new comer's kindness. It was true that she hadn't very well known how to correctly hunt or feed herself, much less keep herself healthy, and she was paying for that now. Now she was mistaking the simplest objects from stumps and rocks for food and now larger things like live larger cats! This had to come to a stop.

"My apologies, I'm just...weary," the cheetah apologized. Her kind was known for speedy passage, so that's what she'd use to catch up to him. Her eyes, thoes lime green orbs, seemed to reflect the vibrant verdure hue of the grass they now thread through.  

[TrinityTiers]

( I can't believe they bleeped out that word LOL))

Serithi continued his steady trot through the long grass, pausing only momentarily to check his heading every now and then. He was getting steadily wetter by the second, a condition he did not prefer, and was grateful when the cheetah hurried her steps to at least match his pace.

Quote:

"My apologies, I'm just...weary,"

The large leopard gave a derisive snort.

" You do mean hopeless, don't you?", he said allow a small, but warm smile to briefly cross his muzzle, softening the harshness of his words. Not far ahead, he could see the outline of the banyan tree. He mulled over his thoughts, trying to recall if he had stashed any small game in the branches of this particular tree.  

[Storei]

(Which word? *doesn't see anything bleeped*)

"Hopeless is a synonym for it, yes, perhaps," the cheetah replied as she finally came to a trot beside the leopard. Her body was beginning to feel the soak of the rain through her earthy hued fur and her entire body gave a chill. The shiver shook off little drops of rain and she gazed hopefully at the tree they were heading too. With each step it came closer and she could just imagine being out of the rain, curling up against its nurturing roots, and licking her fur dry. Perhaps there'd be some roots there for her to chew on since she had failed to find anything to eat for the third day in a row.

"Is that where we're headed?" Yatima asked softly, for a moment forgetting the fact that she had just tackled this unlikely leopard, "My, she's a handsome tree!"  

[TrinityTiers]

Quote:

"Hopeless is a synonym for it, yes, perhaps,"

Serithi fought the urge to roll his eyes at her reply.

" I meant hopeless as in obviously not any good at hunting, not as a state of emotions. Do scrawny things like you have names, or are you all guts and no brains?", he asked, allowing his voice to be light almost affectionate, with harshness or accusations. " She?", he repeated with bewilderment. He'd never actually thought of a tree being male or female They just kind of...were. He slipped gratefully under the shelter of the boughs and sprangs effortlessly into the tree,climbing nimbly among the branches, scenting for any snacks he might have left here earlier.

He thought he remembered a hare somewhere around here.  

[Storei]

The harsh words weren't appreciated, but at least he was saying them with a kind of warmth, Yatima thought as she muled over his words. She scampered underneath the boughs. It was almost like a sanctuary.

"The name of this not good at hunting scrawny thing with all guts and no brains is Yatima," replied the cheetah, her voice heavy with sarcasm. Stiffening her legs, she shook as much of the new fallen rain from her coat and let it splatter around her like rain. Her fur was now not as straight as she'd liked it to be, so she settled down and liked some of it back into place. She glanced up as soon as she had fixed the most disturbing of the fur problems, she turned her vibrant green eyes back uponthe leopard and asked, "What is the name of this confident fellow? And yes, "she", this tree is a symbol of mother nature, yes?"  

[TrinityTiers]

Ah, here it is.

Serithi balanced precariously on two tender young branches and finally with one fell swoop of his paw, sent the hare carcass tumbling down through the web of branches to the ground. He chuckled warmly at her reply as he made his way carefully and confidently down the tree.

" I am Serithi and I suppose dinner's on me." , he replied with a roguish smirk. " And I am not confident. I am quite simply the best at what I do. Now eat, I'm losing weight just looking at you."

He paused a momen, letting his eyes wander the tree then he shrugged. " A tree is a tree."  

[Storei]

When the hare rained down from above, Yatima's skittish muscles jumped and she pranced in a circle in surprise of the fallen rabbit. As soon as she affirmed that everything was alright, she calmed and sniffed the hare. Food...She paused and glanced up at Serithi in shock. Food? Had he really just given her food? An ear to ear grin spread over her face and she hungrily delved into the meal. "Thank you! You wouldn't believe how long I've been starving! You really must be the best at what you do," the cheetah swallowed a piece of her meal, attempting to at least keep her manners despite her appetite, "Sorry for pouncing you...I guess I was just so hungry I was blind and I made a mistake."

"Ah, but Serithi, a tree is much more than just a tree. A tree is shelter, shade, food and cover from unfriendly eyes. A tree is so much more than a tree."  

[TrinityTiers]

From his perch high above in the branches of the banyan Serithi watched the cheetah dance nervously in surprise, as his gift of food landed nearby. She sniffed at it and he almost took offense. It was fresh.... at least he was pretty sure it was... he hunted and stored food so often that occasionally it all blurred together, a side affect of the lack of challenge in the hunt. It was getting to be too easy here, maybe it was time to find new hunting grounds....

The smile that lit up the cheetah's expression pulled him quickly out of her thoughts and he chuckled as she stumbled over herself to thank him and apologize and eat all at one. Her recognition of his prowess was a true one, but not for this. After all, it was only a hare.

Quote:

"Ah, but Serithi, a tree is much more than just a tree. A tree is shelter, shade, food and cover from unfriendly eyes. A tree is so much more than a tree."

Serithi only replied with a simple shrug. It didn't make much difference to him what she thought. A tree was a tree. He settled down on a low hanging bough just over her , laying along the limb. One back leg and his tail swun easily in the air.

" Why starve when there's so much good food to be had?"  

[Storei]

After swallowing another mouthful of the blessed meal, Yatima opened her mouth to give him a reply, she she stopped in the middle of her thought. Huh. Now that was odd. She really didn't have an answer for him. Laying her ears flat against her head, the cheetah looked balefully up at the leopard that rested above her head. She stared at him for a moment, as if trying to find an answer that would somehow be written on his pelt but to no avail.

"I...Don't really know the answer to that," she replied at length. After hearing the silliness of her reply, Yatima gave a burst of amused laughter, "I guess...Well, no one has ever really taught me how to hunt, you see. I've tried learning, teaching myself, but I find myself so distracted by other things."