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 Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:51 am
 There was an art to ambling, a walk that suggested this hyena was in no way out to steal meat off a kill, invade territory, or even be a bother at all. The perfected amble expressed to all and sundry that this hyena was just walking through, and minding her own business.
Over time, Nata had perfected the amble. Lions didn't bother to harass her, wild dogs let her pass (as long as she wasn't going through their lands) and every other beast seemed content to just let Nata walk by.
Sometimes the amble was even enough to get her out of a tricky situation (like right now) when she had a chunk of stolen meat in her mouth and was ambling as fast as she could to the edges of this lion's territory, eager for a fresh meal but more eager to get away, skin in tact. Once she was out of danger she could enjoy dinner.
Eventually she plopped down in the shade of some rocks to enjoy her stolen goods.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:27 am
 Kizuka's stomach grumbled loudly. He let out a small sigh, as he hadn't had a proper meal at all today. He had some piece of of a zebra carcass before some vultures had started to peck at his head wanting some of the meat as well. As hungry as he was, he had no choice but to let the vultures eat. Hey, they had to eat and survive too.
Though, he couldn't help but sniff something delicious and fresh somewhere over the rocks, and peeked over timidly, wondering what it was, and if he could take it.
Again, his stomach growled, but much louder this time.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:08 pm
Nata Bhienne was altogether too familiar with the sound an empty stomach made to ignore it. She looked around till she found the source. Another hyena! Nata liked hyenas, they weren't grumpy like lions always were.
"Hi," she said to the newcomer. "I'm Nata. Are you hungry? You can have some of this cause it's not really mine, anyway. I stole it."
And she proceeded to rip slightly less then half the meat off her chunk and toss it, now slightly drool covered, at the male.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:31 am
"Um." Kizuka shrank into himself, pretty embarrassed that his stomach was showing his true feelings at the moment. He watched her rip off a piece of the meat and throwing it at his general direction. The male merely stared at it, muttering a small thanks unsure if he should actually eat it or not.
"I'm Kizuka..." he muttered again, eyeing the piece of meat timidly.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:47 am
"Hello, Kizuka," Nata said, apparently ignoring him ignoring the meat she had tossed at him. She continued to enjoy her own with much snuffing and slobbering. She was not a neat eater, but she was a fast one. She bolted down the meat faster then a ratel bolts for a beehive.
"Aren't you going to eat it? It's ok, you know, I stole it off a lion's fresh kill, and I can always steal more. If you aren't going to eat it, I will though. Shame to let good meat go to waste."
Nata stood up and shook, then wiped her paws and muzzle against the stones, trying to get some of the muck from her meal off of them.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:15 pm
"Oh...a-alright..." he edged closer to the meat, taking small bites of the carcass. Oh, how wonderful it felt to have some actual food in his body. Kizuka ignored the slobber that was on the meat; it wouldn't do well to be so picky when he could barely get some grub either way.
"Th-thank you." he muttered inbetween bites, starting to eat his meal rather quickly now, but still taking mind to be a polite and clean eater (which was pretty hard when one is extremely hungry), as to not disgust the other with terrible eating habits.
He finished the meat in a matter of minutes, with barely any meat attached to the bone. He licked his chops, trying to groom himself and get rid of the blood around his muzzle. "H-how do you manage to get so much meat from the lions?" he asked dubiously, recalling that the last time he even looked at them they tried to kill him.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:41 pm
"It's all the the amble. Like this," Nata did her amble around the little area, making sure to walk slow enough so he could catch the finer points of how it was done.
.
"If you walk like you're minding your own business, they'll ignore you. You just have to wait till they're distracted, grab some, and amble away. They won't think to chase if you're not running. It's helpful when the jackals and what not start to close in the the lions have to chase them off, too. That gives you the opportunity to grab something. And you never take much, just enough that to fill your stomach and that you can carry easily. If you try and make off with half a leg, they'll notice, and plus it's bulky and it's hard to amble with it. Go ahead, try the amble."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 1:55 pm
Kizuka stared at her amble with a confused expression, wondering why he had never thought of something so clever. It made so much sense. If you acted like you were doing your own thing and not stare too much at the lions, they really wouldn't care for you.
"A-alright..." he said, creeping out from behind the boulder and tried this 'amble'. He felt a bit awkward, and bobbed from side to side feeling (and probably looking a bit stupid). It felt wrong to him, and he stopped. "I don't think I'm doing it right..."
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:44 pm
Nata ambled out after him. "It takes a lot of practice, took me almost a year to get it right. I'd just try it in general first, and try it on jackals or baby lions before you go after a big lion's kill."
Nata ambled circles around him, offering points to correct his form. "No, no, don't look at me, you don't care about me, you're minding your own business. Let your paws drag a little, you look far too purposeful. There you go, that's better."
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:03 am
He studied Nata's movements again before trying it out for himself again. Avoid eye contact, drag paws along, look casual...so many things to keep track of. Kizuka-bui finally managed to grow into a more comfortable amble, though he was still a long way from perfecting it.
"So...this is how you've been so successful...?" he asked, "Just this...this amble...and you've managed to get food." the hyena trailed off, suddenly imagining his increase in food he would get. "This is pretty smart." he admitted, "You're pretty smart." he commented, not surprised by her intelligence (because of course, hyenas were the smartest animals around in the savannah), but still pointing it out nonetheless.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:21 pm
"I am smart," Nata said, but without pride. "But I am neither fast nor strong. It's a trade off. Were I a good hunter, I wouldn't have had to deal with this issue, and the amble would never have come about."
Nata studied his form a little. "It's a good start. Practice though, that's the key. Come on, let's let you stretch your leg a bit, if we're lucky we'll come across something small's kill and you can watch the amble in action."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:06 am
"At least you have something." Kizuka replied rather dully, "I don't really have anything at all." He could barely hunt properly, he wasn't really good at thinking up strategies, nor was he strong at all. Really, in all honesty he was lucky to have come this far. Or maybe others just took pity on him.
"Practice makes perfect, I guess." he said, obeying Nata's words and letting himself stretch out, his body starting to feel a little looser. The hyena almost fell over though, "W-wait, we're trying it out right now?" he spluttered, "B-but I barely practiced. I mean, I should practice a little more before trying don't you think?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:21 pm
"The best way to practice is to do it. I refined my technique with on the spot practice, not getting shouted at by another hyena. That's why we're starting with jackals. No pressure." Nata sniffed the air.
"Although if you want you can watch me do it first, and then we'll try again on a different group. There are sure to be some around, jackals will eat off of anything, except a ratel's kill. Those buggers are crazy."
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:47 am
"O-oh...okay." he didn't feel at all ready yet, but Nata did have a point, practicing as if it was a real-life situation would make him more successful with his amble in the long run.
"Y-yeah, I hope you don't mind if I watch first and then try..." Kizuka said rather nervously, hoping his first time wouldn't be terrible.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:19 am
Nata started her amble towards the jackals, moving steadily but not quicky. The kill wasn't much - looked like an antelope fawn, but she'd need to wait for something to distract them before she could swoop in and snatch and amble off.
It took a few minutes, but eventually a few circling vultures flapped too close, and the jackals, ignoring the hyena that was minding her own business, went snapping at the vultures to drive them away. Quick as a snake, Nata darted in, ripped a leg off the fawn, and ambled away, making a big circle back to Kizuka.
"The other trick is waiting till they're distracted," she said, dropping the leg at his feet. "But there you go - the amble in action. Marvelous, isn't it?"
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