Welcome to Gaia! ::

Quite content with himself, the large lion male headed for home. It had been a fairly long day of hunting, ending in a good meal for himself. His stomach was content and he was feeling rather good about his skills. No one hunted like Jethro. Okay, maybe he was just petting his self esteem, but he couldn’t help himself. It had been a boring day other than the kill and he had no one around to pet his ego for him.

So he had to take care of things himself.

It was hot though. He hated feeling hot. That damn mane of his just absorbed heat, his deep gray coat not exactly helping matters either. Indeed, it seemed as though his coat was made specifically to hinder his existence in a sun-soaked realm. Not great, really. But it wasn’t like he could change his fur. Getting used to it was the only thing he could do. Then again, he had grown up with his fur and still wasn’t any more settled with it than if he had just been given it yesterday.

He spied a tree not too far ahead of him, though also noted it wasn’t void of inhabitants. There seemed to be a dog resting there, but Jethro had no problem sharing a space so he ventured over nonetheless.

“Hello,” he offered to the smaller animal, “mind if I sit with you? I mean, not –with- you, really. Just… under this tree. It’s hot today, isn’t it?” He chuckled mildly, taking a seat near the other even though he had yet been given clearance for parking. Following the animal’s gaze, he looked out at the herd. “Ah, hunting, are you?”

At the wild dog’s response Jethro heaved a sigh. “Ah, well, I’m sorry to hear it.” He decided then not to brag about his success in hunting. Just because he had managed to fill his belly with meat to spare didn’t mean he had to rub it in a stranger’s face.

This time.

Too bad he had left the remains more than an hour ago. Had it been a bit sooner, and indeed a great deal closer, he might have offered the rest of the meal to the dog as both because he wanted the male to have food and as a sign of friendship. But by now the carcass was being picked at by scavenger birds. Nothing really worth going back for.

“I’m Jethro,” he responded at the offering of the other’s name, almost missing it in his thoughts or the meal that had been abandoned, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tai. I don’t see many wild dogs around these parts.” Looking back to the animals grazing not too far away from them, Jethro was struck with an idea like a tree with a lightening bolt.

“You know, if you need some help, I’d be happy to try and take down one of those guys with you,” he volunteered. Wasn’t like he had anything better to do. And hunting was fun, no doubt about that. He would do it all day if food wasn’t in such short supply.

Prey beats needed to reproduce more often.

Watching the inner turmoil of the wild dog was an oddly entertaining circumstance, Jethro found, though he would never say it out loud to the poor guy. It would be the same for him, were their situations switched. He didn’t like accepting help from others either, especially not males who were bigger than him. Maybe it was just a guy thing.

“That sounds like a plan to me,” he chuckled, “I think we’d have a much better shot at things with the two of us. I’m a little slow from, well…. Eating.” He chuckled softly, shaking his head. No intention of bragging was in his tone, it was just him stating the truth; the male had a full belly.

It made him a bit more sluggish.

“I can follow your lead,” he offered quickly.

“I like that idea,” Jethro replied after a short moment of thought, “you bring them within range and I’ll try to take one down. Just don’t laugh at me if I end up with a mouth full of dirt for my efforts,” he chuckled lightly.

Confidence always had its drawbacks, he knew that. Too much of it always meant something going wrong in the end. And Jethro was a very confident solo hunter. He had never hunted with someone else before. Thus was the chance relatively high for something to go wrong. At least on his end.

His gaze shifted to the prey as well, his large body moving slow and he inched his way closer to them into a better position to catch one thrown his way. Skepticism over how well things would go still hung over him, but there was no point in dwelling.

Just go for it and see what happens.

Once he was ready to go, he waited for his smaller companion to get in on the action.

Jethro was rather impressed by the wild dog's speed. He hadn't expected such a burst from something so much smaller than him. It was quite awe-inspiring. He had no time to watch, of course, there was work to be done.

Though confidence was indeed a bad thing, he wasn't about to settle on going for a baby kill. The drive to do well pushed his large frame forward as he sprang into action, claws extended to create traction in the dirt as he made for one of the adults. They tried to scatter, but each time they moved to flee it seemed that something else was there, something that wasn't the blood-thirsty gray lion, ready to harm them.

Bewildered, they really had no choice but to be caught by Jethro.

He launched himself at one that had just turned to get away from Tai, long fangs latching directly into the animal's neck. While the other prey beasts squealed and jumped about in an utter panic, none of them had the mental capacity to try and help their now dying friend. The could but watch as the animal was brought down, kicking frantically before its energy seemed to fail and it went still. Jethro kept his fangs in the animal's neck like he had become fused with it, letting the blood run into his mouth. Only when he was convinced it was dead did he release the animal, snarling lowly at anything that came close to his catch.

With the exception of Tai, of course.

Jethro couldn’t help but laugh. Perhaps hunting was the kind of thing you would like only if you happened to be good at it. Like races or some other kind of contest. Most of the time they’re only fun if you manage to win at least a couple of times. But he didn’t think Tai was a horrible hunter. Probably just had a bit of bad luck every now and again, just as he had said. Far be it for Jethro to call Tai a liar.

“It is a bit of a challenging art. There’s too much chance in it. But I still find it fun, even when I don’t manage to catch anything. Although, admittedly I only find it fun in hindsight. When in the moment it’s a little more of a bitter emotion chewing on my stomach,” he chuckled lightly.

Lying down, he started to clean himself up a bit, stopping only when Tai presented him with something new to talk about. “Oh, well, no. I think I’m the kind of lions most prides would kick out, so I’m doing them all a favor and staying a rogue,” he laughed, “I rather enjoy the free time. What about you? Do you have anyone waiting on you?” He didn’t really know how it worked with wild dogs.