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 Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:13 pm
Usiku padded forward, always forward, towards...well she wasn't sure at this point. Did it really matter? At least she was free from Subu and the damn puppies. That thought made her growl. She had hoped to be a good mother, and now look at her, she had abandoned her family a few weeks back and couldn't be happier. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself every time her thoughts drifted to Subu or the four pups she had left in his care.
Kicking a rock as she padded forward, her eyes took in her surroundings. She was a wanderer again, what she had always wanted to be since the time she left her family as a young pup. And now she had left another family behind, well good riddance, she thought. Huffing she continued forward, not really paying attention to where she was going.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:44 pm
She quickly dug in, eating her fill while also keeping a sharp lookout for other predators. The smell of blood would quickly attract others and she knew she would be no match for a large lion or lioness. The meat was delicious and tender and she ate until she was completely full, but not stuffed, in case she should need to move quickly.
Leaving the carcass where it was, she walked over to the nearby body of water and took a deep drink to clear her mouth and throat. As she lifted her head, she caught the scent of another creature nearby. She tensed immediately and gazed around in alarm, ready to flee if she needed to. She preferred not to fight and since she was full, she wouldn't mind sharing the rest of her kill with another.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:54 pm
The scent of blood in the air caught her attention and broke her out of her mental ramblings. Well as much as she hated being a scavenger she would not pass up a free meal if she came across one. As long as it wasn't a damn lion's kill of course. If there was one thing Usiku hated more in life than anything else, it was lions. She had had too many bad experiences with lions to ever consider them anything but royal pains.
Slowing her pace a bit she glanced around as she neared the carcass. Well there weren't any lions here, and chances are they wouldn't just abandon a carcass for nothing. Coming to a stop by the antelope she cast her eyes out again. Sniffing the air she knew that whoever killed this antelope hadn't gone far. Hmmm now where were they? Eyes continued to scan the area until they picked up the outline of what looked to be a leopard near the watering hole up ahead. Well she could take on a leopard if needed. Lowering her head she took hold of the flesh and ripped a off. Chewing the succulent meat she glanced back at the leopard.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:04 pm
Yara breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the other figure was a wild dog. She remained cautious, but Yara knew that she could hold her own in a fight against a wild dog. It seemed that the other female only wanted to scavenge on the rest of the antelope, which was fine with Yara.
The friendly side of Siyara was telling her to go approach the other and show the female wild dog that she was not a threat. The cautious, more intelligent side was telling her to to leave. Now. Well, the friendly side often won.
She approached slowly, keeping a wary eye on the other female and waited a safe distance away.
"Hello," she said cautiously, but her posture made it evident that she did not mean to attack or to cause any trouble.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:18 pm
Usiku's eyes never left the approaching female leopard are she took another mouthful of meat. If she wanted to fight over the rights of the remaining meal, well then so be it. But as the leopard stopped and spoke it appeared like that would not be that case. Fine, whatever, at least Usiku was getting a free meal out of this. Swallowing her mouthful she bent her head, taking another bite while studying the leopardess.
Chewing the meat slowly she finally decided to say something. "Hi." Her tone was a bit snarky, but that was just Usiku coming through. "You're kill huh?" She asked thought it was pretty damn obvious it was, after all the carcass smelled of the leopard.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:24 pm
Siyara didn't mind in the slightest that the other female was getting the rest of the meal. It would have just gone to waste or to the buzzards if she hadn't. It was no skin off of Yara's back. She did wonder a bit at the other creature's attitude though.
Yara nodded at her question even though the answer was obvious.
"Yes, my kill. Still, you are more than welcome to the rest. I had my fill."
The statement was laden with irony since the wild dog was already enjoying the meal, but it seemed like the right way to respond. Siyara knew that she couldn't let her guard down around this one, but there was no reason why they couldn't at least have a conversation if the other female was willing. It had been quite awhile since Siyara had been able to converse with another creature that wasn't prey. Even if she was a bit snarky, the female wild dog was a welcome change of pace.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:46 pm
Gulping down her current mouthful Usiku huffed a bit. Yeah that's right, she thought, let me have my fill, in other words you don't want to fight. Fine, so this leopard wasn't a fighter, that wouldn't stop Usiku if she felt threatened in any way. But so far the whole encounter was going smoothly, they both kept a safe distance from one another. Clearing her throat Usiku decided to try to be nice, after all it wasn't often that you came upon one so willing to share ones food.
"I'm Usiku." She said while lowering herself on her haunches, though her eyes and ears remained alert for any sign that the situation would turn ugly. "And you are?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:44 pm
Yara could sense the tension and rather than fight against it, she acknowledged it and moved on. Neither could really relax around the other, but at least they were both making attempts to be friendly and civil to one another. There didn't seem to be any other creatures in the vicinity, so they were likely to be safe enough. Yara sat carefully, but was ready at any moment to flee if need be.
"My name is Siyara'taala, but I'm generally called Yara. It's nice to meet you," she replied with a nod.
Yara hadn't socialized with many canines and didn't know very much about them. She'd gotten into a fight with one when she was younger and had been able to fend the attacker off, so she knew their general abilities. This was a good opportunity for her to learn more about Usiku and her kind.
"I don't run across your kind very often," she said in a pleasant, conversational manner, "So it is interesting to meet you. May I ask what brings you around this area?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:10 pm
Usiku quirked a brow at the leopards words, your kind, what did she think that would be a conversational highlight or something. "Well that's probably for the best Yara. My kind aren't always the best when meeting others." Giving her fur a shake her eyes scanned over the leopards body once more, somewhat sizing her up should things turn from this lovely conversation they were having.
"If you must know why I am here. I have abandoned my mate and pups to take up the wandering lifestyle again." Usiku said nonchalantly as she bent her head down taking another bite from the antelope. "What about you?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:24 pm
Yara shrugged off Usiku's tone. She hadn't meant anything offensive by the phrase, but it was easy to take it that way. She ignored the rest of the comment as well. It was Usiku's next words that really threw her off. This female had abandoned her mate and her pups . . . to wander?
Siyara had not chosen the wandering lifestyle, nor was she particularly fond of it. To her, the ideal was to be able to find a mate and a home to settle down in. The sheer thought of having that and abandoning it . . . how horrible.
Yara blinked a few times, staring at Usiku. She did not understand her in the slightest.
"I am a wanderer as well, though not by choice. To me it seems odd for anyone to really choose to wander. I'm doing so until I find a home for myself," she said, still rather shaken. "May I ask why you chose to leave your home and your family to wander? I guess I don't understand the motivation behind it."
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:04 am
"The life of a wanderer is what I have always known and what I have always wanted." Her words were confident, though in her mind she was beginning to think otherwise. Usiku blamed that on mentioned what she had left behind. Licking her lips to clean off any blood she looked at the female who was clearly taken aback by Usiku's words.
"Why I abandoned them. Well the answer to that is simple and complicated. Basically as a pup I was forced out of my old pack at a very early age, too early in fact." She paused for a moment, glancing up at the sky and taking a deep breath. Gods she hated talking about this stuff, especially to complete strangers. "So I have spent my entire life wandering, when I met Subu, my mate, I was hesitant to let him close to me. But he grew on me and that eventually resulted in four puppies. I wasn't happy about it but promised myself that I would try to be a good mother to them. I tried, I failed and now here I am." Usiku gave her shoulder a shrug to keep up the facade that she didn't care about them.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:34 am
Yara nodded slowly. Usiku's explanation made sense, though it still seemed very tragic to Yara. She had never had any cubs, but she could not imagine leaving her own offspring for any reason in the world. Still, she was Usiku and the other female had her reasons. Siyara was not in any position to judge another creature for their actions, no matter how she disagreed with them.
"I'm very sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have pried into your personal life. That was very rude of me, please forgive me," she said gently.
Siyara didn't want to disturb Usiku any longer, but could not think of a polite way to leave, so she waited until she had finished with her meal, her mind busy with her own thoughts.
Yara had never met anyone like Usiku before. She was glad to be broadening her horizons and her experience, though the encounter did make her quite sad. She wondered if the other female missed her mate or pups at all. At least she'd been honest. She had tried that life, but was better suited to wandering. There was no crime or fault in that.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Usiku rolled her eyes. Of course this female would apologize, anytime she had ever told anyone that story they always apologized. Why should they be sorry, it's not like they were the ones who did it to her. Giving her head a shake she looked at Yara. "You shouldn't feel sorry for me. I have accepted the bad things in life. It's impossible to go through a life without anything bad happening. Though some of us have a habit of running into bad things more often than others."
Her mind went back to the day she ran into that damn lioness at the watering pond. Well that had certainly been a bad day. Brow furrowed in thought, she glanced out at the open expanse of the Savannah and then finally rested her eyes back on Yara. Well since she was being so truthful with this leopard it wouldn't hurt to tell her what was on her mind. "I had hoped that wandering would give me a reason to go back to them." She said and then gave her a shrug. "Guess I haven't found that reason yet."
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