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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:11 pm
A black shadow against the velvet blue of the night sky, Gahiji stood perfectly still on the top of a large boulder and surveyed the landscape with keen, red eyes. The african night was alive with sounds and movement, and the black cheetah's ears swivelled around in an attempt to catch and analyse them all. The distant but unmistakeable sound of dainty hooves against the ground captured his entire attention. The tip of his tail flicked restlessly as he focussed eyes and ears on the grasslands far to the right of his position. Antelopes, slowing down from a run in order to graze. A small herd... Eyes focussed intently on his target, even though he could hardly even see them yet, Jii noiselessly slipped off the boulder and disappeared into the tall grass. The hunt was on.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:18 pm
Suavice'selva slowed himself to a walk and stalked around the side of the small herd as they slowed, and eventually stopped to graze. He was shivering in the cold night air, despite the fact that he'd been chasing them at near top speed for the last five minutes or so. He concealed himself in some elephant grass nearby, tail twitching of it's own accord in his excitement. Ahh, the thrill of the hunt. He layed his ears back and crouched really low to the ground, watching them still, muscles quivering and toes, pawpads and claws digging into the dirt with his anticipation.
This was one time where Vice was completely focussed on what he was doing; which was rare, most days, but that aside-- He had watched them the whole time he'd been chasing them, and now it was his moment to pick which one was the weak one. Make a wrong choice, get injured or possibly even killed. Antelope had sharp hooves and horns, and there was no messing about, or misjudging.
Some of them were still glancing about timidly; they knew that something was up. Like a flash of lightning, the green-furred male leapt from his hiding spot, ripping up dirt under his paws as he raced after his carefully deduced choice. He pounced with claws fully extended and jaws wide, ripping at it's neck and bringing it down under his weight. He held his laws over the muzzle of the preybeast, slowly but surely killing it, and then took a few steps back and watched the other scatter, piercing the night with their terrified shrieks.
Suavice'selva stared down at his work with a proudly-puffed chest, and then glanced about, watching for other night-hunting creatures, or just other beasts in general. Now that he'd exposed himself, there was no telling.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:30 am
"Aw man!" Jii couldn't help himself. He broke his cover and tried to catch up with the herd, but could only see their white little tail ends disappear into the night with an almost insolent bounce in their step. He stopped, panting, turned as if to leave but then turned right back again to stare after the bouncing tails.
"Oh, hell no!" he yelled, and hung his head in defeat. Then he snatched it up again to focus a piercing stare at the green creature that had interrupted his meal.
"Hey, you!" Head lowered into an agressive fighting stance, he started trotting over to within speaking distance of the other cheetah, calling out angrily as he went: "You interrupted my hunt! You scared off my quarry! What the hell, man?!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:34 pm
"Hey me what?" Suavice asked stupidly as he looked up, then moved closer to his kill. "What do you mean? I've been chasing this herd for a good while. They just finally stopped long enough for me to catch my breath and move in on them." The green-furred cheetah stopped for a second and stared at the other, who was apparently incredibly enraged at this.
"I'm not looking for a fight at all, and there's plenty here for both of us, if you want to have some of my kill." He spoke like a calm parent would to a child who might have a hard time understanding. He swayed his tail a bit, and dug his claws into the dirt next to his kill. He was making sure to stand his ground, despite the fact that he was currently terrified of being eaten by this other cheetah. But he didn't think that a cheetah would eat another cheetah, so he just stood his ground.
It was his kill after all; and he had said he was willing to share.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:14 am
Jii's ears perked up, and then he raised his head. The surprised look on his face completely erased his earlier aggression, and he stopped at what was actually quite a respectful distance from the green cheetah.
"For serious?" he said, his bafflement apparent in his voice as well. "You'd share with me? Wow, I... that's..." He looked off to the side, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed about himself, and awkwardly scratched the dirt with one paw. "In that case... I'm... er... hrmsorry I yelled at ya."
Struck by sudden suspicion, he looked back at the other cheetah, his red eyes narrowed.
"You're not just taking a piss out of me, are you? You're not trying to fool me or anything?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:01 pm
"Of course." Vice said at the initial question the other cheetah had asked him, ears flicking toward him to listen better to what he was saying. Vice had recently begun becoming ever so slightly hard of hearing; "Oh, goodness no!" He laughed nervously. "I'm a loner through and through, I couldn't eat all this, and sharing with someone who's just as hungry as myself is better than just leaving it for hyenas and vultures, and whatever else might decide it wanted some." The green-furred cheetah laughed again, though the mention of hyenas caused him to give a fleeting glance to the now practically empty- save for the scrub -landscape.
"Yes, yes, you can have some. I don't mind one little bit." Why he was being so friendly, Vice had no idea. It was possibly, and most probably that this other cheetah seemed....well, rather a sight more vicious than himself, and he didn't want to anger him. There was the idea and fright of being eaten still floating at the back of his mind.
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Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:44 am
((GOD, that is a GORGEOUS lady you've got in your sig!))
Gahiji felt the awkwardness coming on again, but pushed it back, this time. He had a right to be suspicious-minded, after all! He hadn't really encountered many creatures who would easily share their hard-earned food with a stranger without some sort of hidden agenda - hell, he himself probably wouldn't.
"Oh." He said. Then, after a brief pause, he cleared his throat and decided that the least he could do in return for the surprisingly generous gesture was to explain himself a little: "I... It's just not very often that the people I encounter are willing to openly share their catch... I was really just going to start over again, I just got so upset when I saw the herd run off... you know how it is, right?"
He took a few tentative steps closer, still not sure that he could believe in this stroke of luck.
"Still, I guess I shouldn't have yelled at you... you were on them before I was, that's as simple as that, right?" His nose suddenly registered the smell of the prey at the green cheetah's feet, and he felt his mouth begin to water as his eyes were inexorably drawn to the fresh carcass. "You sure this is okay?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:08 pm
"It's fine, really..." Vice said, quirking a brow at the other male. How one could hesitate so much when being offered perfectly free food was beyond him, but he couldn't blame the other for being cautious. "I really can't eat it all, I told you, didn't I?" He laughed nervously, flicking his tail and then stepping back, tearing at the leg of the prey-beast, and carrying it off a few feet. He put it down in the dirt and flopped down beside it, gnawing slowly at the fresh, hot meat.
"Help yourself." He nodded at the carcass, grinning widely and then going back to gnawing on the piece of it he'd ripped off, chewing absently on the piece of bone that stuck out the top of his piece. "My name is Suavice'selva, by the way. Or Vice. Whatever works better." He said with a little shrug, tilting his head at the other male for a moment, hoping he'd feel secure enough finally, to introduce himself.
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:17 am
With a big, almost cub-like grin, Gahiji trotted up to the carcass and ripped off a good chunk for himself.
"Thanks!" he said, still grinning widely. "Man, you're a really decent guy, aren't you? Don't see many of those around. Vice, was it? I'm Gahiji, but you can call me Jii."
He gnawed away at the lovely, fresh meat for a moment, and then looked up again. "So," he said, by way of making conversation. "Is this your territory?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:03 am
Vice smiled back happily, and especially so, since he figured now that he'd managed to make himself a brand new friend. "Ahh, I haven't any territory. I never have. Guess I was just born to be a rogue." The green-furred male laughed, chewing thoughtfully on the strip of meat hanging from his mouth. "So you needen't worry about tresspassing. At least not on me." Vice laughed again, flicking his tail and then tilting his head back to swallow the piece of meat after a little more chewing.
"How about you? Do you have a territory? ...Oh wait...this isn't yours, is it?" Vice said, his eyes widening only slightly, but wondering if the darker cheetah might have just been asking a trick question.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:02 am
Gahiji snorted with amusement and shook his head at the green cheetah. "Hell no, not mine. I don't have a terrritory of my own, either. Wouldn't want to be tied down with anything like that - I'm a free spririt, same as you! Go where I please, eat when I like, sleep where I want."
He dug into his meal again, feeling increasingly at ease as his stomach started filling up. Vice seemed genuine, too, and that just made him feel so much better. He hadn't had anyone decent to talk to for a while, and Jii liked to talk.
He looked up with a friendly grin. "The rogue's life is the life! Am I right, or am I right?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:51 pm
"Well..." Vice started, though he paused shortly after, licking his lips and swallowing the bite of food he'd just finished chewing, "I don't know, actually..." He trailed off again, coughing gently and flicking his tail, shifting his weight and leaning to one side. "I met this female..." Again, the green-furred rogue trailed off, ears flicking back, though only slightly, as he watched Jii.
"But something tells me I'll never see her again, anyway, so I guess it's not a big deal." Vice laughed, though it was a rather dismissive laugh, "She was a real nice girl though." He shrugged, swaying his tail and ripping off another chunk of meat, chewing it thoughtfully for a moment.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:48 pm
Jii looked up from his meal and fixed the other cheetah with a very serious glare.
"Dude, buddy, Vice, listen to me. I'm going to give you a very valuable piece of advice, here: You be careful about those females, all right?" He spoke with earnest seriousmess and a fair deal of bitterness in his voice. "Mark my words, friend: they might look and smell like the sweetest things in all of creation, but don't let'em fool you! You might think you know what she's thinking, but you'd be wrong! You're weak before her - all males are - and she knows it. And don't you think that she won't use it against you, sooner or later."
He underscored his words with a sage nod. "No, trust me on this one, man: You're better off on your own."
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:50 pm
The green-furred male stared back at his new friend, not sure how to take the advice, nor the seriousness of Jii's tone. He flicked his tail and took another bite out of the piece he'd grabbed off the kill, chewing it for a long moment before swallowing and flicking his ears a little.
"Well...I dunno. It was kinda an accident, I guess. I mean, I thought she was something else..." He mulled over the thought quietly, mumbling a little. "And she doesn't really seem like that kinda girl, you know?" He said, shrugging a little, and taking another small bite of meat.
"But I guess it doesn't matter after all. Like I said," He paused for a moment to chew, and then swallowed again, "I'll probably never see her again anyway." He said, forcing a smile and a small laugh.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:00 am
"They never do," Jii muttered, loud enough so that the green cheetah would be sure to hear it. "And you're 'probably' better off this way."
He could have carried on, saying something about his own experiences in the field, but he could tell already, by the sound of the other's little laugh and the slightly dopey look on his face as he talked about his female that any further attempts at advice would only fall on deaf ears. Vice was a genuinely nice guy, alright - so much so that he couldn't be made to believe in some of life's nastier aspects.
Though he wouldn't admit it, even to himself, Gahiji really envied him in that. And it made him a bit grumpy, so he kept eating in silence for a while. When he felt sufficiently filled-up, he also felt more sociable again. Placing one paw on the remainder of the antelope's leg that he had been chewing on, he looked up.
"Well, I'm just about full now. Thanks again for the grub, man. I would have caught my own, but it was nice not to have to work so hard for it, for once. Is it okay if I take this with me?"
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