Sere grumbled, moving quickly through the grasses. Duo had gone and snuck off AGAIN. He was quite the little devil, that one. And since Mioyo was busy with the others...Sere was the one to go retrieve the boy. Not that he minded too much, since he resembled his old teacher so much. But there were times where the cub drove Sere nuts! A movement in the grass downwind caught his attention and he stalked forward. Certainly that was him...and sneaking up on the cub would certainly get him to stay put for a while. Duo hated being shown up. Sere smirked as he burst into view. "There you are!"
It had been a pleasant day for Safura; or at least much more pleasant than her days had been in a long while. She'd been wandering for so long that sometimes she didn't even remember just why she'd started to. And then she had days like this when everything went right, and the sun was descending so beautifully and the sky was so brilliant, that she didn't care to remember. Of course, that all changed when the unfamiliar blue cheetah jumped out of the grasses, causing the young female to jump to her feet and her fur to fluff out in shock.
"Who- what- where!?"
Sere blinked at the female, then frowned. "Ah. You're not him." He turned his head to the side and growled a bit. "Dammit. Where did that rascal run off to?" He sighed and turned his red gaze back to the female, bowing his head. "Pardon me. I thought you were someone else. I...generally don't do that. Not to strangers."
It was a long moment before Safura got over her surprise, and she quickly did her best to smooth her fur back down, sitting and giving her shoulder a brisk lick. Her ears flicked slightly and she turned to nod politely at Sere. "It's alright. You just startled me... Who are you looking for, if you don't mind my asking?"
Sere sat. "A cub I'm helping to watch. He snuck off from his siblings, and his...twin of sorts wouldn't say where he went. I'm determined to find him before he causes trouble." He snorted. "Duo's a little devil, that he is." And other things...but those were things Sere himself was encouraging, for reasons an outsider did not need to know. "Sorry I startled you."
"Perhaps I could help you look for him? I don't think he went the way you were headed. The grass was still fresh and untrampled," Safura said lightly, smiling in Sere's direction. It was the least she could do to help him. After all, it sounded like this Duo was a pawful!
The blue cheetah blinked. "Ah..." He hadn't expected the lady to offer him help. But...well, he wasn't about to reject it. "The help would be most appreciated." Blasted boy. "My name is Seremotšatši...but most simply call me Sere."
"I'm Safura'auri. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sere," she replied lightly, getting to her paws and glancing around the area. She'd been a rogue long enough to learn even the smallest signs of something having passed through an area, which was vital for avoiding some of the more difficult to deal with species. She was confident that it wouldn't be that hard to track down this cub with her help.
A nice name. It fit her. "Well...he's not very old, but he's a bit large for his age." His mother was a VERY large lioness after all. "Most of his body is black, the rest is a pale color that's not quite white, some white, and he's got a brown mane fluff." Was generally easier if the person helping him knew what Duo looked like. He...was new to this whole 'keeping track of another' thing. After all, he'd been trained to be a priest, not a babysitter.
Safura nodded at the description, and it wasn't long before she spotted the proper trail. The grass had been trampled and there were even areas where it'd been pulled from its roots, the telltale sign of a cub. "Over here," she said, padding over to the area and pointing out the signs to Sere. "See how the grass is trampled here? He isnt quite at the age where he knows how to pass with minimal damage, so you just have to look for a trail like this."
Sere blinked and nodded. "Huh. Well then." He'd always thought only prey left trails like that. He'd need to teach Duo how to not leave such signs quickly. It would give him a headache later...but Duo couldn't afford to be so easily tracked. "Thank you." He was brief, but no rudeness was in his tone. He stalked along the trail, intent on finding the errant cub and whacking him upside the head for running off.
"You're very welcome, Sere," Safuma said lightly, padding after Sere to make sure he didn't take a wrong turn again. While it was Duo who'd made the trail they were following, there was always a chance that he'd crossed an older preybeast trail. And if he had, Safuma would need to show Sere how to tell the difference between the two trails.
Sere frowned as he caught Duo's scent, and surged forward, catching the cub by surprise where he was gnawing on a bone. "Got you, you little devil!" He pinned Duo down, looking very unhappy. "You are in trouble again."
Duo yelped as Sere showed up, dropping the bone and staring up at the cheetah with wide blue eyes. "Uh...hi, old man." He grinned nervously. "I uh...heh. Oops." Eloquent, he was not at the moment. And then he noticed the female cheetah. "Eh? Oh! Hey old man, you finally stop being scared of girls?" By Sere's sputter, he'd succeeded in getting him back for scaring the living daylights outta him.
Safura could hardly hold in her laughter at the sight that met her eyes when they found Duo. Really, the two bickered like old friends, and it was certainly entertaining. Duo's question suceeded in drawing out a small laugh, and she flicked her tail behind her absently. "I doubt I could scare him very well, young one.
Sere bit back a growl. "I have NOT been scared of girls, Duo. I just don't have time for them like your...half brother does." Shupavu was a rather prolific lion. Sere found it rather funny most of his young were female. He bowed his head to Safura. "I apologize for him. He's...young."
Duo snorted. "Yeah, yeah, old man. Only girls you really go around are Mom, my sisters, and 'Ima." He flashed a grin at the female cheetah. "Sorry he's such a grump! My name's Duo!"
"Young, and quite the charmer," Safura teased, nodding towards Sere with an amused smile. "I'm Safura'auri. It's a pleasure to meet you, Duo."
Sere rolled his eyes and let Duo up. He returned Safura's smile, finding this female tolerable.
Duo got up and shook himself off. "Nice ta meetcha, ma'am! But...I should probably be headed back home before the old man here feels like tanning my hide."
"That would probably be wise of you. But he might just tan your hide anyways," Safura teased, a hint of amusement crossing her face as she shifted to nudge the cub. "And don't take any detours. I've taught him how to track you, so he'll know if you do."
Sere grinned rather deviously. "That's right. So get your butt back to your mother and siblings." He nodded to Safura. "Thank you for you help again. It was nice meeting you."
Duo blinked. Ah heck! It was gonna be harder to sneak off now! He pouted and started back for his mother's den, ears down. Dammit.
"Like I said, it's no trouble at all. But in case he happens to run across a prey trail... The easiest way to tell them apart is too look at how deep into the ground the grass is pressed. Preybeasts have hard hooves, so they trample the grass further down," Safura said lightly, smiling and nodding to Sere politely. "It was nice meeting you as well, Sere."
Sere smiled. "You've been a great help." He wouldn't mind if he ran into her again. She had a sharp mind. With that, he turned and followed Duo, yelling at him to stay in sight.
