Ia’eh had everything she needed in life: Her tree, a nice spot of shade, and a very nice view of crocodiles snapping at each other in the nearby lake, watching them as they warred with each other for no reason other than for sport. Or perhaps they were desiring themselves something in the vein of food.
There was nothing wrong with a little bit of chow now and then, afterall. But she didn’t bring it up to herself, as she had a nice antelope sitting in the tree with her, her red eyes flashing over to it with a sort of ‘hmmm’ing thought, before looking away again to watch the shores of the lake. Nothing too fascinating that day.
Certainly the neighbors were settling in nicely (a very pregnant cheetah and her leopard mate), though Ia’eh couldn’t help but ponder their choice in a home, before sighing again. But it seemed she wasn’t the only one in the mood to sigh a bit, her brows perking up as she heard another sigh beneath her, looking down to find another white coat sitting under the tree and looking out into the lake.
A maned wolf, mm?
However, it seemed the female maned wolf (interestingly bright) hadn’t even noticed her yet, so she didn’t make a point of pointing herself out, just watching the crocodiles for a moment, before she moved to start maneuvering through her tree to start pulling her dead meal off, just for it’s limbs to fall through the branches and hit the ground with a sudden snap.
Which made the maned wolf jump and look behind her just to see the dead animal.
“Wh-“ she moved to approach it just in time for the Leopardess to jump down from her tree to grab a hold of the dead beast, causing the canine to suddenly prickle and bare her teeth at the female.
“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?” she demanded to know, causing Ia’eh to make a half-interested face at the snappy canine, before answering with a calm; “I should be asking you what you’re doing in my home, young lady.” She leopardess answered flatly, quickly biting into the jowls of her prey and starting to clamber right back up the tree to fling the antelope over a branch before perching proudly in the tree.
Mettie snorted and frowned at the leopardess.
“Home? You call this a home? This is no place for anybody to make a home that desires children!” Mettie said, which in turn caused Ia’eh to frown and look out towards the crocodiles.
“I know.” She said flatly, with a sort of .. mourning to her voice, before sighing deeply and moving to start ripping open her dinner. However, it seemed that moment of sadness had dug into the canine’s mind.
“You know!? How could you possibly know!?” she demanded with a sort of snottiness, just so cause Ia’eh to drop a kidney down on her before the leopardess went about pulling the other out as well. “I said this is my home, I never said I had a family to go with it.” She explained, settling on the branch to chew thoughtfully on her chosen organ before sighing out at the lake and to the two figures who were moving across it.
“That pair settled there recently. While the lake is not swarming with crocodiles, it would be unwise for any pair of parents to birth and raise children that close to a lake of such beasts, you never know how quickly they’ll grab a child and spirit it away..” she said, a sort of choke in her voice, before she shook her head. “And the father, if such a thing were to happen, would throw himself in after it, despite knowing the danger.
And perhaps leave the poor mother alone.”
The look on the leopardess’s face pained Mettie. She would just see what was playing through the white feline’s mind – one of those ‘beasts’ grabbing onto a small leopard cub and dragging it into the water and it’s father jumping in after it, the water going bloody…
…
And pieces of her dear mate being all she ever found of her family.
Perhaps Mettie didn’t see it at clearly as it played for Ia’eh, but the maned wolf settled down anyways to chew on the offered morsel of food. “Where would you say a better place to settle for a family is?” she inquired, the leopardess looking away from the lake with a frown on her face to look at the maned wolf.
“Mm? Well, for tree-climbers, the jungle, for roamers, the savannah.
A small and shallow water hole would serve them best. The young won’t drown, but they will be able to bath and water their young, and most prey will come to water.” Ia’eh said after a moment of thought, before sighing and moving to push the antelope out of the tree again, causing Mettie to jump a bit.
“!?”
Ia’eh settled on her branch and sighed deeply.
“Take it with you. I’m sure the one you love is hungry, if you have one..” she advised. And for a moment, Mettie wasn’t sure if she should actually leave or not. But ultimately she did rise to go and seize the partially-opened meal to drag it along with her as she headed off, having to ponder to herself:
Was a family even a good idea for her?
And would that leopardess just spend all day staring out at the crocodiles for no reason?
