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 Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:51 am
 The sun was setting, painting the landscape in vivid oranges and reds and making the tree line seem pitch black against the remaining light, but Viverri wasn’t minding the beauty of her surroundings. She was too busy stuffing her face. Her hunt had been fairly successful and she was currently eating a big but unlucky bird that had come in her way. It was a large prey for her, but unfortunately it had dropped from the tree where she killed it and she had to eat it on the ground. Not her favourite way of doing it, but whatever got her fed.
She raised her head now and then, feathers sticking to her muzzle, just to check her surroundings. Danger usually came from above in the form of predatory birds or sneaky leopards, but you never knew. There were a lot of things bigger than her on the savannah and in the nearby forest. Not as smart or as good looking, but as much as she hated admitting it sometimes the one with the biggest fangs won out.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:18 am
Sunset was the perfect time for Madaha to hunt; the black stretch of shadows and vivid yellows of the fading light were the perfect match to her fur. Even so, Madaha could readily admit that all the advantages in the world would never add up to make a decent huntress out of her. Let's face it; she was graceful only when it came to peaceful movements, like dancing. As far as fighting and killing went her heart simply wasn't in it. Or... usually, that's how it was.
It so happened that today marked the third day she'd gone without food, and she was feeling it. Being on her own without a pride already meant she was no match for the lion-sized game, so she took opportunities for smaller things where she could find them. Today luck seemed to be on her side; here was... well, some sort of creature, and it was on the ground, eating. It was alert, but so far she thought it hadn't detected her, crouched in the dry grass a dozen or so yards from the tree it was under.
As quietly as she could manage surrounded by dry, rustling grass, Madaha decided she would make her move. Crouching to spring, she tensed her muscles, then threw herself forward at full speed, hoping to cover the distance at a run and pounce on the little creature before it was able to escape...
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:15 am
Viverri saw movement from the corner of her eye and immediately darted toward safety. She had to leave most of her hard earned kill behind, and while it annoyed her it couldn't be helped. Hopefully whatever was after her would settle for the bird, but since it sounded like a big animal she couldn't count on it.
She knew how her own mind worked. If you could get a small animal AND whatever it had been munching on - all the better. Chase the one that's still running first. All she could count on was her own speed and agility, and she abruptly changed direction mid leap, to try to fool her pursuer long enough for her to get to a tree.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:39 am
Madaha was quick, but there was no question that the Genet was quicker. Not to mention that Mada lost ground in the chase when Viverri changed direction at the last moment. The lioness, who had been running at her top speed, skidded in the dust as she tried to re-route her pursuit accordingly. Being a cat, and therefore more attracted to the moving things than unmoving, she ignored the bird that was left behind - for now.
With a growl of frustration that the tiny "whatever-that thing-is" was getting away, Madaha made one last effort to put on speed and overtake the critter before she could make it to a tree. With claws outstretched and teeth bared, she leaped even though she was still too far off for a sure kill, hoping for the Genet to make a mistake she could take advantage of.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:11 am
The mistake did come, and it was the oldest one in the book. From the noise of paws skidding in the dirt Viverri was pretty sure she had managed to feint her pursuer, so she allowed curiosity to win and recklessly looked over her shoulder to check. A lioness, that was both good and bad. A cheetah would probably have caught her already, but lions could be stubborn.
Turning to check slowed her down, and made her less aware of the terrain in front of her. One false step later what had been a good distance between them turned into almost no advantage at all. She scrambled for her life towards the tree as she heard the lioness jump, painfully aware of the fact that she might have made her last mistake ever. The sudden pain when a huge paw grazed her was the best motivation she could have ever received and she scrambled up the tree trunk as if her tail was on fire, leaving scattered drops of blood behind.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:28 am
Madaha had a fleeting moment of satisfaction from what she was sure was her victory. The little creature had looked over it's shoulder, allowing Mada to gain ground, and the lioness was sure she was going to eat well tonight after she felt the claws of one paw graze something living...
And then they ripped free, and she was left grasping nothing but a big pawful of tree bark. Roaring in frustration, her eyes followed the escaping prey up the tree trunk and into the high branches. Her initial reaction, fueled by the scent of fresh blood in the air and her adrenaline, was to climb up after the Genet into the branches. This she tried; digging her claws into the rough bark, she leaped straight up the trunk, but had a big dose of reality as her clawholds slipped and she came crashing back to the ground ungracefully in a shower of loosed bark and raised dust. Madaha had never been much of a climber even as a cub, when she weighed significantly less, and now that she was grown she was awkward and unsure. She was also positive, looking up into the branches, that they wouldn't support her weight even if she could get up there, which was seeming less and less likely.
Lashing her tail in supreme annoyance, she barked at the Genet, "You can't stay up there forever! Come down and I promise I'll eat you quickly." Yeah, that would work well. Right.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:20 pm
Viverri hadn't had the time to check how bad her injuries were, and with the rush of nearly being killed she hardly felt any pain at the moment. She was safe for now and could focus all her energy on being angry at the cat below. Viverri liked trees for this very reason.
"Stupid lion," she cried from her high vantage point, "You no eat me!"
After a quick cleaning that stung quite a bit she looked over her hind leg, gave it a quick sniff and decided she'd live. She wouldn't be very graceful the next couple of days and she'd probably be sore all over tomorrow, but she didn't agree with the lioness below. She could and would stay here as long as she had to. Trees were safe and full of food for her. Bugs, birds, maybe a lizard... Oh, she could wait.
"No eat!" she repeated and then chattered and growled what must be considered genet curses for a long while, "I stay here! Fat lion no climb..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 4:01 pm
Losing her prey over her inability to climb a tree, something other big cats had no issue with, was one thing. But to be taunted by her intended prey just turned Madaha's annoyance into outrage. She tried once more to climb up the trunk of the tree, but she was even less successful this time, as her exhaustion from the initial run caught up with her. Snarling, she swatted at the trunk in frustration, scattering a few chips of bark and leaving tiny grooves from her claws in the wood. But otherwise, all she got out of it was some sticky, obnoxious-smelling sap on her paw.
She glared up into the branches, at the Genet perched safely above, and snorted. "Come down here and call me stupid! You're pretty brave for a little rat that just barely escaped being eaten." Speaking of eating, that reminded Madaha of the bird that critter had left behind. Well, it wasn't much, and she hated getting all those downy feathers in her teeth, but it would be something. And just for spite, after she trotted off to the spot it lay in, she carried it back to the treed Genet and lay in the shade there, so the little animal could see her devour it. Mada made sure to be especially gruesome about it too, crunching bones and smacking her lips.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:14 am
Sitting in a tree taunting a big cat below was starting to feel very familiar, but Viverri liked it better when she wasn't bleeding. The outraged tree scratching was amusing, and the angry ranting even more so. But soon the inevitable happened and the large predator turned her attention to the bird she had been so pleased to catch earlier. Not so much fun anymore.
"My kill," she wailed, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it, other than coming up with half hearted insults. "Fat lion can't hunt. Need me to hunt for her."
She gingerly climbed down a few branches to see her foe better. No, the lioness was polishing off every last bit. Still, losing her kill was better than losing her life. A little bit better. She used her teeth to bite off a dry twig and dropped it down below to see if it would hit her enemy. Such a small twig would hardly be more than an annoyance, but it felt a little bit satisfying at least.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:50 am
Madaha had been right in her first assessment of eating the bird; she was spitting out feathers with every bite. Yuck. She wiped her muzzle with her paw irritably and snorted as she felt more feathers stuck in her whiskers. Eating that thing in the tree would have been much nicer, but eating at all was a good thing. At least she didn't have to walk away from this failed hunt with nothing at all to show for it.
Madaha flinched as something fell on her head from above, glancing off her brow and narrowly missing one of her eyes. When it landed in the dust, Madaha saw that it was a twig, and her annoyance returned. The little cat-rat-whatever-it-was was getting on her nerves, but she knew better than to try going after it again. Falling out of that tree again would just serve to humiliate her further.
She cocked her head skyward, eyeballing the genet still high in the branches. "That the best you've got? MmmmMMMm, this bird is tasty." That taunt about the lioness hunting had been too close to true, so Madaha made no comment on it. Instead, she tore into the bird with renewed, if contrived, zeal, and in a matter of moments the whole thing was gone but for a gory mess on the lioness's face and clumps of feathers tumbling about in the dust.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:35 am
Provoking a reaction from the lioness was all encouragement Viverri needed, and she started scurrying around in the tree with renewed energy. From Madaha's position her movements were betrayed by rustling branches and the occasional dry leaf slowly falling from above. The genet was up to something, but what could it be?
The rustling stopped and a small but ominous chuckle could be heard all the way down to the lioness on the ground.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:56 pm
Madaha was listening, and despite the fact that her better judgment told her that now that she'd eaten it was time to get going, her curiosity made her stay. Whatever that Genet was doing up there, it both interested Mada and made her feel a smug sense of satisfaction. Maybe whatever it was would make Viverri fall out of the tree by accident, the lioness was thinking hopefully. Then her snack would be more like a meal.
She licked her lips, still spitting out feathers, and gazed up into the tree, craning her neck to try and get a view of where Viverri was and what she was doing.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:16 am
Viverri's injured leg was pounding after her climb, and it had started to bleed a little bit again. She took the time to clean it again before taking a closer look at her find. Her nose had led her to a well camouflaged birds nest, but it hadn't been camouflaged enough. The bird was nowhere to be seen, so the eggs in the nest were unprotected.
Since she was still hungry she quickly ate one of the eggs, saving the rest for her plan. One of the other eggs was promptly stuffed into her mouth and she held carefully as not to break it. Armed with her delicious projectile she once again positioned herself on a branch where she could see straight down to the lioness below. She spat the egg out and dropped it down, aiming for her large foe and hoping for the best. Throwing food might not be the smartest thing to do, but it was very satisfying.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:35 am
Madaha had just enough time to see a round object dropping from the tree - not a twig this time? But before she had a chance to react, whatever it was hit her squarely on top of her head, and with a sense of pure disgust she felt something sticky and wet rolling down the sides of her face.
"UGH!" Madaha cried involuntarily, wiping the top of her head with her paw and examining it to reveal bits of eggshell and plenty of egg yolk and white. Eggs weren't something that Mada would automatically think of as food anyway, but in this situation she was only completely revolted. How the heck was she supposed to groom on top of her head?! She'd be sticky between the ears for days!
This was all she could take; even trying to wait out her prey in the tree didn't justify getting egged. With a roar of frustration and a big shake of her head (sending egg bits and yolk flying in all directions), she took off, bolting out from under the shadow of the tree and out into the savannah, clearly more than fed up with the little nuisance she had tried to hunt earlier. One thing was for certain; she'd probably never pass up the chance to eat a genet if she ever met another one.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:54 am
It was with a pang of regret she saw the tasty egg fall, and for a moment she feared it might miss the lioness completely. But the sound when the projectile found its target was well worth one less egg in her belly, and the lioness reaction was a most welcome payout for her sacrifice.
Her brush with death was already forgotten and the genet was once again convinced that she was way better than any lion and could win over the best of them. Today she felt invincible! A dangerous attitude for a small tasty animal, but she didn't have the sense to worry about that.
"I feed you," she called after the retreating lioness, "You say thank you!"
Not that she had dropped the egg out of the kindness of her heart. She sniggered as she limped back to take care of the rest of the eggs. It would take some time for her to heal, but she was safe enough in this tree. And if she should get hungry she could always think about her little victory against the much larger predator.
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