Ilaheva was on her own. The wild dog wasn’t sure how she liked it yet, but it wasn’t all bad. Her family was kind of boring. They were all concerned with the PACK. It had been a lot easier back home with the pack, but there had to be more to life than chasing gazelles and whatnot. Ilaheva wasn’t sure what that something was, but she knew it was out there. One of these days she would find it. Right now, it looked like she was about to find trouble. A male hyena was approaching her. Ila eyed it warily. It wasn’t as big or gnarly looking as some of the females, but it was still bigger than she was.
Kepo really wasn’t paying much attention to the female wild dog. He would be very happy if he never saw another wild dog again. They were irritating, stupid things. Like big yappy fleas. Ugh. They certainly weren’t anything to worry the arrogant young hyena. Lions were dangerous (unless properly controlled, of course), other hyenas were either stupid males or delightful females, but wild dogs? Wild dogs were nothing. He ambled along, aiming to walk right past the wild dog without ever acknowledging it.
Ila was growing tense. The brown hyena hadn’t said anything. Was he about to attack her? He looked like he was making a beeline for her. She squared her shoulders, eyeballing the hyena as ferociously as she could manage. She might not have the Pack behind her, but she wasn’t about to be taken down by some chump hyena. “Hey,” Ila said, frowning at the strange hyena. “What do you want?”
Had that cruddy dog actually spoken to him? Kepo was quite close to her now, and he swung his head over to return her glare. Not only was she a dumb dog, she was blue, his least favorite color. Gross. “What do YOU want?” Kepo returned, as rude as ever. “I don’t talk to dogs.” He sniffed, quite disgusted that the hideous canine had actually spoken to him. Like they were equals. The very thought was appalling.
Well, the hyena wasn’t attacking her, but he didn’t sound like a very nice guy either. Ila narrowed her eyes. She had never had much truck with other species. It occurred to her that this was the first time she had actually spoken with a hyena. This guy was a total jerk, even if he was kind of cute. Maybe that was why her family lived all together, without any strange species. “Oh yeah? Well I don’t talk to nasty hyenas, mister.” Ila returned, her pretty blue eyes flashing with irritation.
As a pup, Kepo had run to his auntie whenever something (more usually, someone) troubled him. But the hyena’s brash personality had led him into more than his fair share of conflicts. As an adolescent on the very verge of adulthood, he was fairly jaded. He rolled his eyes at her comment, feeling weary with the conversation already. Honestly, dogs were the dumbest things on the planet … except for lions, his father, and his revolting cousin. “You talked to me first,” Kepo pointed out waspishly, his lip curling in disgust. “Back off before your fleas get on me.”
The hyena really did outweigh her. His brawniness compared to male wild dogs really was appealing … if only his personality wasn’t so horrible. Ila was standing straighter, her anger heating slowly but surely. This guy was the biggest jerk she had ever met. What was his problem? Okay, so she had messed up a bit, that was kind of embarrassing, but SO WHAT. She was a lady, for goodness’ sakes. Ila’s dainty paws dug into the ground in a most unladylike way. “I don’t have fleas, you dirtbag,” Ila growled. It was a bit too high-pitched to be threatening, but she did what she had to do.
Again, Kepo was unimpressed. Oh. A little bitty wild dog was pissed at him. What EVER. He rolled his eyes again and continued on his way. He hadn’t been doing anything much important, but he still felt that the encounter with the wild dog was a tremendous waste of his time. He might was well be talking with Kele.
Oh no he didn’t. He was ignoring her! The nerve! Ila’s eyes narrowed further as the hyena continued on his way. Like she wasn’t even worth his time. And he hadn’t apologized, either! “Hey!” she barked, furious at being dismissed by the lowlife. “You better watch what you say, mister bigshot hyena!” She had never attacked anyone in her life, but something about the stupid hyena was making her see red. Not quite realizing what she was doing, the wild dog picked up a stick off the ground and threw it at the jerky hyena’s back.
Kepo’s eyes bulged out when the stick hit him. “WHAT THE –“ his curse strangled in his mouth as his teeth gnashed together violently. He spun around, his glorious fur standing on end. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” She had hit his personal self with a stick! A DIRTY STICK! Oh no. Oh no way. Kepo picked up the stick and threw it back at her as hard as he could. Maybe it would hit her between the eyes and she would drop dead right then and there.
No one had ever tried to brain Ila with a stick before, and she leaped wildly out of the way. The wild dog hit the ground and rolled, flailing dramatically. “UGH!” She spluttered, climbing back to her paws. It had been dumb of her to attack someone so much bigger than herself, but now her temper was truly up. She was way too cranky to be afraid of some crappy hyena. Heedless of his jaws, she jumped at him, paws flailing wildly.
Kepo was taken by surprise when the crazy wild dog jumped at him, trying to batter him to death with her pitifully small paws. She had to be the stupidest animal he’d ever met. “Hey!” Kepo screeched. “Watch the hair!” He bumped at her with his shoulder, shoving her rudely to the ground. “Back off, you weirdo,” Kepo growled. He turned and stomped away again, casting suspicious glances over his shoulder in case she tried anything. Jeez, he hated wild dogs.
Panting, Ila dragged herself to her feet again. She stared after the hyena as he left. At least he had acknowledged her now. That was a victory of sorts. She shook her head. There had to have been a way to win even against a larger opponent … she would have to think about it, and the next time she encountered a hyena she would surely beat his a**.