Water was good and all, but Tiombe had grown hungry, the longer she'd stood around and conversed with her new friend. She didn't think it would be very nice to try and devour Ru, after all the nice talk she and he had done, so figured it would probably be better for both parties if the hunted for their meal instead. That is, of course, if Ru was even hungry. Not that Tiombe really cared.

"Ruuuuuu," she drawled out, glancing up at the cloudless sky, "Ru, I've decided that I'm hungry. Do you leopards know how to hunt, like us lions do?"


Runi's ears perked. His face was still stuck partly in the water, practically trying to vaccuum it up. Quickly, he drew himself out of the drink, muzzle soaked and dripping, and his tongue quicky darted around to catch the precious moisture. "I love hunting! It's the only thing I'm good at."

His eyes lit up. "I'll pay you back that way! For helping me out. I can get you something to eat, no problem."


Her eyebrows rose at his response, very intriuged by the answer she received. Tiombe rather hated hunting, and found it to be a hassle to track down and kill one's food just to be able to eat. If Ru was such a fan... well, why should she stop him from doing something he loved, right?

"Good!" she finally replied, very satisfied. "What will be on the menu for today's meal then? I don't know of many critters that run around these parts... shall we go find something delicious for you to kill for us?"


Runi leaned his head to the side and thought. "There's a lot of gazelle out there. I've been picking some off when I'm really hungry, but mostly I've been going on birds. I think I could take one down for you... it just won't be a very big one. The big ones run fast and they kick. It kinda hurts."

He practically bounced at Tiombe's invitation. It was just like old times! And maybe with a lioness on his side, he wouldn't fall prey to any of those larger, meaner-looking lions. "Let's go!"


"Hmmm," she thought aloud, debating between gazelle and bird. She finally settled for the gazelle, because birds did tend to have quite a pitiful amount of actual meat on them, and she never had to worry about sharing before. How much did a leopard eat, anyways?

"Okay!" She agreed, heading off into the grass from where Ru had appeared from, "I bet you I can find a gazelle fiiiiiiiiiirst!"

With that she took a leap further into the grass, laughing as she raced away, beckoning her new friend to catch up to her as they searched out where any gazelle herds could be roaming.


"That's what you think!" Runi threw himself headfirst into the grass, following the rustling and laughing that gave Tiombe away. He might have been smaller, but in a life spent wandering from place to place and running at the first sign of trouble, he could be quick when the time called for it. He couldn't maintain the speed a lion could, but he jetted off alongside her, soon growing slower as he tried to get back into touch with his hunting side. Tiombe was no longer the only one making noise - there was a gentle rumble under his feet, made by many hundreds, if not thousands, of hooves. He gave a quick whispered hiss to her, unsure of whether she could hear him this far away. "Hey! Tiombe, over here!"


She nearly stumbled on her own paws when she heard the hiss, not having expected him to have stopped so suddenly. She should have expected it, come to think of it, since that WAS how she met him from the get-go, but there was no time to bother with that now, not when Ru was clearly on to something!

"What is it?" she hissed quietly in return, crawling to move to where he was crouching. She debated on raising her head up, but feared spooking any creature that might be lurking nearby, grazing. So instead, taking the safe route, she merely asked, "Do you see them? Are there any gazelle?"


"I think..." Not exactly a true statement. But this was hunting! The greatest challenge with the highest payoff. Most of the time there was little thinking involved. He'd grown a little more brash than before in how he addressed Tiombe; the hunt was a timeless ritual, and if they didn't make a kill he was about to waste some valuable time and energy. Hopefully Tiombe knew the gruffness of hunters herself... her being a lion, he expected it, they always seemed pretty gruff even when they weren't hunting. "They're over there. We're not close enough yet, but they don't know about us. We've got to be downwind of them... I think we are, the wind's kind of coming at us."


She followed him to where they were downwind, whatever that was, and remained quiet as he did his... well, thing. It was fun to watch someone else do all the work for once, and it wasn't until Ru was nearly done with the whole effort-bit before she stepped in to help him take down his prized catch (after all, she couldn't exactly let him get away with ALL of the credit!).

Staring down at the large meal, she happily dug in, being generous enough to start on one end and not the juicy middle, to allow Ru room to feast for himself.

"You better make sure to eat ALOT," she reminded him between bites, pausing to swallow a large chunk, "You're so scrawny... we're going to have to get you bigger, Ru!"


The hunt was draining, but the positive outcome was worthwhile. Runi helped Tiombe drag the prey back toward a tree, and at the very least out of range of those dangerous hooves! After giving pause for the lioness to start, Runi dug in completely without manners. It was probably clear at this point that he was somewhat of a vagrant.

Despite still having half a mouthful of gazelle, he blurted out, "It would be nice to be as big as a lion... but I've never seen any big leopards before. Do you think it's possible, Tiombe?"

She stared at him oddly, not having any earthly idea what he was saying. Blinking a few times, she tried to run back his jumble of words in her mind, attempting to decipher it. She thought she'd heard him say 'big' and 'leopards' together, but that was simply a silly idea. Although it did sound like he mentioned lions... maybe he was saying something about how much bigger and cooler lions were to leopards?

"Oh, definitely," she nodded sagely, "Most definitely!"

And with that, she leaned down and returned to her feast. She could most definitely get used to having her meals hunted for her... perhaps she'd have Runi stick around. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to, at long last!