In what scarce shadow stood in the noontime sun, beneath a gnarly old tree, sat a field mouse, twitching and grooming its whiskers. It was oblivious, which was perfect--a stupid creature. The little thing was not the least bit wary of the wiry young lion lurking behind it until it was underneath him... and by then it was far, far too late. Isoroku pinned his quarry to the ground with a smirk. He didn't understand what was supposed to be so hard about this. If he could catch a field mouse, he could catch anything.
Mother kept telling him... constantly... that he ought not to play with his food. He rolled his eyes as he smothered the little mouse to death then set to tearing it open. How ignorant. How typical. He was not _playing_ with his food... why would he partake in such nonsense? He was _studying_ it. He wanted to see what made up his meals, what its substance was, what nutrients it provided him to help him grow. Wasn't it his right to scrutinize what he was eating, know what he was putting in his body, and not just scarf down what was plopped in front of him, as his sibling seemed so content to do?
Wrinkling his nose, Isoroku poked about the innards of the mouse with his claw. Scarce a morsel of meat on the thing, and its bones were so tiny... but he didn't get to see a lot of actual organs, and he was frankly curious. Stooping down, he squinted to get a closer look.
More than anything, Aang loved being able to travel. Sure, he missed his home, but he couldn't go back until he was older. So for now, he enjoyed his time travelling the world. It wasn't long before his wandering brought him to the borders of a pride. And, completely oblivious of the existance of the pride, he had wandered into their lands.
He was busy exploring the area when he caught the scent of blood, and saw a lion around his age inspecting what looked like a carcass. All the blood drained from his face, and he couldn't stop himself from staring.
Isoroku caught a scent on the wind, over the stink of the mouse's blood. Still learning to identify the smells of other creatures, Roku immediately heaved up his head to see what it was. That's when he spied the little one gaping at him. Hmph... pitiful slack-jawed gawker. Wasn't a lion. Lanky, long tail, narrow mane... a cheetah, the lion juve surmised. He'd heard of cheetahs before... not yet seen one. If this one was exemplary of his species, then Roku wasn't impressed.
"Hey. You." Roku wiped the blood off his claws in some nearby coarse grass and stood up straight. "You okay? What you think you're staring at?" The kid looked like he was going to be sick, and if he was... Roku really didn't want him to be sick all over his study area. Though he'd be quite interested to learn what caused the sickness. He leveled his purple eyes with the cheetah's own and stared back until the thing could muster a reply. If ever.
"I'm fine... I just... I don't like..." Aang struggled for a reply, gray eyes squeezed shut as he waited for the bile to climb back down his throat. "I can't stand bloodshed."
This was stammered meekly as he tried to rid himself of the mental image.
Isoroku leaned forward a bit, in irritated anticipation. "You just... you just... what? Spit it out!" He backed up and waited, and when he finally got his response, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Oh PLEASE," he scoffed. "What, this?" He gestured a paw sharply at the field mouse beside him. "It's just a mouse. You're looking at me like I murdered my sister or something." He rolled his shoulders and looked back down at his kill, poking at it. "I mean, you're a predator, aren't you? We kill to live. Suck it up." With that, he stooped down and began picking at the critter's insides again. Pitiful, just pitiful. He wondered if all cheetahs were that weak of stomach. How the hell did they survive if they were like that?
"You'd feel the same if you grew up after your entire clan had been slaughtered mercilessly!" Aang said, his fur bristling indignantly. He turned away from Isoroku, unable to watch the way the juvenile treated the body. "And just because I'm apredator doesn't mean I like killing."
Isoroku jolted in place, inadvertantly swatting his test subject away. That... he had not been expecting. That was admittedly pretty brutal. "Wow... wow... sorry, man." He furrowed his brow. But now... he was just more curious. So many questions plagued his little head. What had led to this slaughter? Who had slaughtered them? More importantly... who was feeding this kid? Really? If he wouldn't kill...
However...
"You can't say that about me," Isoroku said, sitting and curling his tail around him, frowning in indignation. "You don't even know me. Predators are different from prey animals. If somebody killed off the Pridelanders... unlikely, there are a lot of us... but if somebody killed us off, I like to think my people would want me to LIVE. Which requires a little killing." Honestly, it was such simple logic. "You don't have to LIKE it. It just kind of... is."
Shrugging, he went scouring in the grass for the lost mouse. Damn it, he was going to have to catch another one. Well, at least he'd already sorted out that he was good at this.
"It's hard for me to work myself up to killing, though. Right now, Eupe is providing for me... I don't know what I'll do when I'm bigger... Maybe I could survive on plants?" Aang said, pondering aloud and canting his head to the side.
Eupe huh? Must be a friend or something. Well good for them, if they had the energy and the patience to feed the little worry-wart. He was gonna be pretty screwed when he was older. Unless...
Isoroku sprung up, eyes wide, his search immediately abandoned. Screw the mouse. He could find another mouse. THIS kid had just offered him up a unique opportunity... a field test. An experiment. "You know, I DO wonder..." He now approached the kid and began looking him over, circling him, surveying his build and his apparent health. COULD a predator survive on plant life? Was it possible? Now that the idea had gotten into Roku's head, he couldn't get it out. "I think you should try..."
"Really? I mean, Eupe might worry if I stop eating meat suddenly... But I guess it's worth a try," Aang said lightly, shifting and attempting to follow Isoroku's movements curiously.
Isoroku came around to the front of his newfound companion to look him in the eyes. "Do you _realize_ how revolutionary it would be to discover predators can live on plants? We'd have so many more options! Never more would a down-on-their-luck hunter need to starve. And plants have a higher concentration of energy in them because they're lower on the food chain!" Isoroku laughed aloud. The concept was incredible, he was surprised he never thought of it before. Not that he'd risk trying it on himself.
"Yes, yes I think you should try it... and you should tell me how it works. I want to know. I really do."
"Alright. I'll do it! I'll try to keep everyone in this area for a while so I can tell you how it turns out!" Aang said, nodding in determination even as his tail wriggled behind him in excitement.
"Oh, excellent!" Isoroku said with a bounce, in what he would later decide was a shameful display. "Thanks kid! You've made my day. This'll be great." He dropped down into the grass with a sigh. "Now I'm glad I met you. Really glad. Are all cheetahs so eager to try new things, or are you just more interesting?" He cocked his head to the side. It was a genuine question; he'd never met a cheetah before.
"I think I'm just more interesting!" Aang chirped, grinning at Isoroku and plopping down on the grass.
Roku laughed aloud and sat astride the young cheetah. Nice. The kid had more confidence than he'd credited to him in the first place. "Well good for you. Defy convention." Roku lashed his own tail. "I feel like I owe you some payment for indulging my curiosity... want me to go get you something to eat and not tell you where it come from?" He raised an eyebrow at Aang. He still thought it was a little rediculous... but hey, if the kid was willing to live on plants...
"Know any places to get berries? I snack on them a lot," Aang said lightly, grinning at Roku and wiggling slightly in his spot under the other juvenile.
Berries? Isoroku stared off into space and thought about it a second. He was pretty sure the last berries he'd found were poisonous... they smelled funny, and the bird he'd tried to feed them to wasn't too happy about it. But, maybe...
"I think there's some closer to my den," he said. "This isn't a very good place for berries, really... too dry." He shrugged. Never cared about berries much. It was ruffage. It was dull. It was only interesting insomuch that it might draw prey. Either way, he pulled himself up to his feet. "C'mon... I'll show you."
