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 Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 4:37 pm
 Taariq's eyes locked onto a herd of saltare who were getting ready to sleep for the night. The day had ended and the moon was now up in the sky, shining down on the herd and the arnulf, who was currently hidden in some bushes. Taariq was starving, and he didn't feel like getting the food his father had brought back to their den. No, he was a grown man now. He should be able to get his own food by now and that was exactly what he was doing to do. As he lowered himself down to a pouncing stance, the arnulf licked his chops. The saltare looked so good, and they would be a perfect meal to bring back. The only issue would be deciding what to do with the leftovers.
The saltare on watch lifted up its head and looked around. He frowned and tensed up a bit. Either he was paranoid or he already could feel Taariq's eyes on him. After a few moments the saltare lowered its head to grab a bit to eat. Taariq grinned," Enjoy life for the short while longer you have it, my prey..."
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:40 am
 Taariq wasn't the only kimera around looking to take down one of the prey animals. Another arnulf was hiding in some longer grass, crouched down nearly to the point of laying on her stomach. The white and red fur on her neck bristled, and she could feel her pulse start to race. If she managed to bring one of the saltare down, it would be her first kill larger than a jackalope.
Aria was still trying to choose the right target. None of the creatures in her view looked easy to kill aside from a single fawn, and even it was being watched by proud, protective parents. Even if it wasn't, she doubted her ability to kill such a young creature; it seemed too much of a shame. The only one that was separated from the herd by enough distance to matter was a particularly large buck. However, those antlers were so much larger and intimidating than those of a tiny rabbit kimera, and served as quite a deterrant. Aria flexed her paws and squinted her eyes, hoping to see a better opportunity. There seemed to be nothing... What was she to do?
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:20 pm
To Taariq, it didn''t matter much about which saltare he went after. All that mattered to him as he got one and had a decent victory doing so. Taariq crept closer to the salte with its head down, its back to him. It was the perfect target. He didn't care how big or powerful it was, because it was right there.Taariq pounced out from the bushes and onto the saltare.
The saltare's eyes widened. It called out to the other saltare. Most of the saltare fled as soon as he called. The buck started to jump and kick to try and get Taariq off of him. He was having a hard time now with the arnulf's teeth sinking into his neck. His chances were starting to fade.
Tarriq snarled in triumph, but felt himself slipping with the bucking of the saltare. This was an awfully big saltare now that he cared to look.
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Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:31 pm
Aria was just about to spring when Taariq made his move. Her target happened to be one of the ones that took off, and she knew that chasing it alone would be a foolish endeavor. However, the other hunter looked as if he could use help bringing down his prey.
Almost without thinking, Aria was running as quickly as she could towards both Taariq and the large saltare. Having no experience and little time to plan, she jumped fangs-first towards the prey creature, aiming to latch on under his jaw and into the softer part of his neck. If she wasn't impaled by antlers or kicked away, her attack would hopefully bring a quick end to the deer-like kimera.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:23 pm
Taariq had caught sight of the other. He almost let go in shock. What was she doing? Trying to get herself killed or foolishly trying to steal his prey? Taariq was determined to bring his prey down by himself, no matter how bad things looked at the second. The saltare saw the other arnulf come at him. He let out a call of distress and lowered his head to try and ram into the female. Taariq pulled upwards on his neck and disrupted his attempt. Taariq growled again, but more at the other arnulf than his prey..
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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:23 pm
When Aria saw the prey's attempt to use his antlers against her, she quickly opened her wings and slowed her assault. When she hit the ground, her face displayed an utter expression of confusion. This was happening too often...
"Uh, do you want me to tackle his legs or something?" she shouted over at Taariq, who she just assumed was growling at the bucking saltare. She stood firmly with her rump in the air, ready to turn if that doomed creature started to charge in any way, shape, or form.
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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:24 pm
Taariq let out another growl. He really couldn't respond right now since his teeth were in the saltare. The saltare, however, began to slow down. The fangs in its neck was too much and he was losing a lot of blood there now. He fell to his side. Taariq let go and pinned the saltare to the ground, even though the prey was too weak to really fight back much. "Why did you jump in like that?" Taariq asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked back at the other arnulf. "I was handling it fine..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:11 pm
Aria's ears flattened, but she couldn't help but let a small smile filter through. "Sorry," she said in an almost sing-song voice, apparently either oblivious of or unfazed by Taariq's narrowed eyes. "I guess I just wasn't thinking. That kind of happens to me a lot... Well, at least we got him off guard, right?" Her tail swept to the side as she relaxed her pose and cocked her head to the side.
"Um... That was fun!" She grinned and began to trot forward, hoping that she would be forgiven for trying to help. Apparently, he hadn't really wanted her assistance, and she was at least smart enough to realize that. As tempting as it was to look down at the dying saltare, Aria's eyes stayed trained on the other arnulf as she approached.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 4:47 pm
"Hmph. Off guard, yeah. He probably never witnessed a hunt like THAT before. It was different alright..." Taariq stepped on the dying kimera's neck, pressing it to the ground. He contemplated a fast way to kill the saltare. Watching his food dye for this long was tiresome and even a bit too gruesome for him. "Yeah, I guess it was fun. Hunting is always fun... even better than the eating part sometime." A growl escaped his throat. "This thing is too big to carry back to my home to share with my family and it's too much for just me to eat. Hn. A waste.... unless..." His eyes darted up to look at the female across from him. She was happy and had good motives he guessed. "I'll let you have some. You want it, right? I don't feel like leaving it to scavengers. A kill like this is too good for scavengers."
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:08 pm
At the mention of sharing, Aria's crimson eyes lit up. "Yes, please!" she yipped happily, not even attempting to show any subtlety. It had been a while since her last meal, after all. She finished closing in the gap between her, the prey, and Taariq, and then sat down on her haunches, her wings moving a bit so that they could settle. It didn't look like the saltare was quite dead yet, and she didn't intend to 'dig in' until it was.
"Thanks a lot, by the way," she said, cocking her head to the side with a grin.
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:12 am
Taariq snapped the saltare's neck back, the final blow. This had gone on for too long. He growled in frustration. The saltare had been too strong of its own good. Oh well. It was all over now. He just nodded his head in response to Aria. When he got home he could now prove to Emiko, his sister, that he didn't waste food this time. He didn't get why Emiko worried about that stuff though. Taariq sat by the side where the saltare's back was facing him. He dug his fangs into the flesh and took out some meat. He chopped on it with his jaws before sallowing it. He licke his chops before digging in for more. The meat was tough, but it wasn't bad. His full concentration was now on his lunch. He expected Aria to dig in whenever she was ready. It was usually how it worked at his den most of the time with his other family members. However, he did look up just to make sure he knew what she was doing. He had never shared food with anyone outside his own family before, so this was different for him.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:04 am
Aria watched Taariq for just a moment, a sudden awkward feeling washing over her. Sharing such a large thing should be easy, but it technically was his kill. Come to think of it, she had never once in her adult life shared anything but her old master's table scraps. She moved to the other side of the meal, sitting back down as she reached the belly of the herbivorous beast. The fear that she might be taking Taariq's favorite part quickly subsided as her stomach gave a squeaky growl. Hesitantly, she began to nibble on the rump of the saltare. It wasn't long before she began to take it in chomps, moving down to the belly after she hit the leg bone. Her snowy white maw was stained as red as her wings before long.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:51 pm
Taariq soon finished after having his fill of the saltare. He sat up and watched Aria to see if she would soon be done with her share. His eyes were dragged away from her as he examined what was left of the saltare. He licked his chops and put his paw on the saltare's shoulder blade to test how stable what was left of the creature was holding up. If anything was really left after they were both finished, he might be able to save a leg to give to anyone who wanted it when he eventually returned home. Maybe he would let this new stranger take some of it with her. It wasn't until now that he realized he didn't know her name. "Did you tell me your name yet? I'm Taariq." He said. He didn't really care if she was done eating or not.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:15 pm
Aria looked up as she was spoken to, her head cocking to one side as she listened. When he was done speaking, she shook her head and swallowed the bite that she was on. "No," she said with a smile. "I don't think so. My name's Aria." She kept her eyes on him as she took another bite, smiling as she chewed it and it went down her throat. After that, she decided, she would stop eating. Being completely stuffed was never a good feeling, as she had learned in her younger days. Besides, it might be nice to speak to this male for a while... Taariq.
"That's a nice name," she commented. "It sounds like it means something. Does it?" Her tail waved back and forth as she licked her chops, attempting to remove at least the majority of the blood and bits of food that were clinging to her fur.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:28 pm
Taariq thought about the question for a moment since it was one he wasn't usually ask. "Yeah... it does..." He paused as he tried to remember. The name was his father's idea and he told him the meaning when he was a pup. He never cared that much about names so he didn't recall the meaning very well. "Something about a star... morning star I think. I don't know. My dad gave me the name." The male arnulf licked his right paw a little to get rid of some of the blood that was starting to dry on it. "What about your name? Does it have a meaning? It sounds like it has to do with air or something..." He asked before going right back to licking, but this time on his other paw. His eyes flickered up every once in a while from his paw to look up at Aria.
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