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 Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:41 pm
Humming softly to herself she padded along slowly, eyes closed and head up to enjoy the warmth of the sunlight on her face. Her fur was mostly dry now from her dip in the river, and her shines, the necklace and cuff she had put on her tail, gleamed brightly, making her day absolutely perfect.
Catching the glint from the metal on her tail she paused and looked into the distance, remembering the one who had helped her make it. She wondered what he was doing now, such a nice guy, he had been so helpful and kind to her,she hope she saw him again, even if it was only briefly. She wanted to think him for his assistance that day.
Smiling softly she lowered her head, a touch of sadness colouring her thoughts as she missed her friend, despite the fact they had only met for one day. She hoped he was well... he deserved to be happy.
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:38 am
 Shambe had been following her at a long distance for a while now, keeping far enough to be out of earshot. He had seen her before, he knew that well and he remembered why, but something was off. The shine from her cuff had baffled him, surely he was hallucinating. No, there was only one way to really find out. "Lakeisha," he called out, speeding up his pace to approach her. Hopefully she would be receptive to his advance. Sometimes there were lingering hostilities, but she hadn't seemed the sort. There was no way that that thing on her tail was what he thought, it just wasn't possible. She must have picked it up somewhere else.
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:03 am
The sudden call from behind her startled her out of her reflections and for a moment she thought for sure that she had wished his voice into existence. But as she turned, her lilac eyes widened then lit up with pleasure.
"Shambe!"
Twisting round she raced over to him, dancing on her paws like a cub as she drew close. "Hey! Its so great to see you again!" Smiling she settled in front of him, but couldn't hide the delighted expression on her face. "How have you been? Its been ages since I saw you."
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:26 am
He didn't speak for a moment, staring at her tail. There it was, solid and gleaming. Fascinating. He realized suddenly that he must look insane and pulled himself together, puffing out his chest. There she went, all sunshine and smiles, not what he'd expected at all. "I, yeah," he managed, choking a little bit on his words, "Long time, lots of things happen." His voice was still distant, trailing off every few seconds as he fixated on the tail cuff. "Where ah, where did you get that?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:33 am
Giggling at his expression she moved a little closer and sat down, her tail curling round her paws. Looking down at it as he finally came out with what was clearly on his mind, her smile brightened an she jumped up again, turning sideways and curling her tail against her flank to show it off.
"Isn't it pretty?" She smiled warmly, obviously very pleased. After a moment she grinned at him. "Its the one you helped me make. I went back later on, like you had told me to, and when I dug the hole this sat in the bottom!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:38 am
Shambe stared at her blankly, feeling an odd sense creeping up his back. His fur was standing on end and he wasn't sure what to make of it all. It just wasn't possible. No, she was lying, she had to be. She was smarter than he'd given her credit for, maybe even as smart as a cheetah. A bit of respect slipped into his mind and he nodded, deciding he would play along for a little while and see how she spun it. "That's... Fantastic," he told her with a bit of a smirk, "It looks good on you."
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:51 am
Pleased with his response she set down again, ears pricked forwards as she smiled happily. "Thank you. Im so pleased with it, I had wanted to find you and thank you, but I never could find you." Tipping her head she suddenly paused and a low rumble issued from the direction of her belly. "Hmm... are you hungry?" She asked, raising to her paws with a bit of a cheeky smile.
"Maybe you would like to join me in a hunt, then we can make a new shiny?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:57 am
A new shiny? Either she was really messing with him or she was deluded. Would he test his luck on this? He wasn't sure he wanted to chance it, but something told him it would be worth his time. She was interesting, that was for sure, and he could use a meal. "Hunt first, then we'll talk about a shiny, no sense in being distracted," he suggested, peering at her with one ear cocked. Strange, usually he was good at reading others but she didn't seem to show any signs of lying to him. Maybe it had been a fluke, maybe there really had been something under there. Maybe, just maybe, he really was magic. Was he losing his mind? The hell. He cringed for a moment, pulling himself to his feet, "It's ah, good to see you well."
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:12 am
Grinning widely she nodded, remaining on her paws this time as she scooted her rump round to face the same direction as he was. "Of course, making shinies takes a while and we will both be too hungry to wait by that point." Pausing she smiled again, this time the expression was softer, genuinely happy. "Thank you... its good to see you too. I missed you after you left, I wanted to show you the cuff."
Giggling, suddenly self conscious she started forwards then paused and looked back at him. "Anything you particularly fancy to eat? I was about to start looking for something anyway."
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:48 am
"Meerkats maybe?" Anything but fish, he didn't want to think of another fish while he was with her. He'd eaten them all after he'd left and made himself sick, though someone had suggested to him later on that the sickness was the result of guilt. They were wrong of course, he had nothing to feel guilty about. She had agreed to the deal, he had never guaranteed it would work. Well he had, but it had worked hadn't it? It still felt like a trap. Well, he could always take the situation as it was, a beautiful leopardess who seemed to be incredibly grateful to him. Grateful enough to take his mind of his cub? No, she was a leopardess after all, not a cheetah. His mother hadn't raised him like that. Still, there was a certain allure to her cheery glow. Maybe he really was going crazy. "There are some dens further north, I chased them out a few days ago but they might be back now."
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:16 pm
Tilting her head she considered his suggestion thoughtfully, then smiled warmly again. "That's not something I get often, ok.. Meerkats it is!" Turning towards the north she padded forwards a few paces then looked back over one pale yellow shoulder, tilting her head with a playful smile of invitation. "Ready? I've not explored this area very much."
Once he moved up with her she set off again, pacing along at his side as she regaled him with stories about various experiences she had since they parted, like the time a band of hyena had cornered her up a tree only to be chased off by a band of buffalo who mistook the hyenas attention as directed towards their own calves. Chatting presently, she would nudge him into telling stories, wanting to hear more about his adventures.
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:22 pm
Curious. It seemed she had no shortage of stories to tell and that suited him just fine. He wanted to scope her out, figure out exactly what her angle was and it seemed she would give him all he needed. So far, she just seemed well, unfortunate. That familiar twinge came back and he found himself scowling, trying to press it back down. He didn't feel sorry for her just because she seemed to get in trouble a lot. That was her own fault for being a leopard. Was it though? He'd picked a few fights himself, and he sure wasn't. Maybe his mother had been wrong. Wrong? What was getting in to him, this must be part of her plot. She would lure him into feeling comfortable and then turn on him. Forcing a smile onto his face he kept pace with her, keeping one eye turned sidelong to watch.
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:40 pm
Entirely oblivious to the cheetah's mental acrobatics involving her personality and temper, the young female continued to regale him with her stories, constantly questioning him as she tried to get him to tell some of his own.
A while later they arrived at the burrows and Lakeisha drew to a halt, ears pricking as she studied the area. "What's the best way to get them? I've dug them out before but its slow.." Turning back to him she looked at him expectantly. "Maybe that's the only way?" After all, how else would you get into a burrow?
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:44 pm
"Like this," Shambe told her as he flattened himself out on the ground and stuck a paw down into one of the holes. For a few seconds he flailed about looking rather intent and then retracted his paw with one meerkat stuck on his claws and a dozen or so other scurrying out into the open. "The benefits of long limbs," he laughed, pouncing a few more down. It wasn't all about being hungry after all, on some level it was just plain fun. They were too stupid to escape, and somehow outsmarting them was making him feel better about his current predicament. What was he to do after all? It wasn't common for him to be clueless, especially with anyone but another cheetah. Maybe she was different.
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:52 pm
Ears pricking she watched him fish around in the hole with a puzzled expression, then suddenly as he pulled out a bunch of the little critters she laughed in delight, racing a few feet to pounce one of the ones trying to reach another burrow. "Now I'm jealous!" She laughed happily, snagging the meerkat she had chased down and snapped its neck with a paw swipe. darting to the side she went after another one, rounding up all those that stayed above ground from Shambe's fishing. Once they had scattered she collected the four she had managed to kill and gathered them up in her jaws, carrying them back over to where the cheetah was and dropping them before him.
"That is a really smart trick.. I doubt I could reach as far as you though." She grinned, not at all put out by that fact.
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