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Drakma sighed heavily as his feet clomped heavily and stubbornly against the shriveled grass beneath his feet. Today had been a terrible day, and not in one of those pansy, whiny, baby type terrible days. In an I hate the world, type of terrible day.

First he'd been forced to go without food all day, a strange yet honorable sacrifice in the memory of his Mother. Then he'd been ambushed by a bunch of scraggly looking rogues. What the heck they thought they were going to get out of him, was beyond his knowledge, and he hadn't really cared to find out. Knowing he couldn't defeat the rogues in his weakened state he had been forced to flee. Drakma never ran.

A growl, escaped the male's throat, and slightly from his stomach as well. There was just no way that this evening could get any worse. He just felt there wasn't. Now all he had to do was sit it out and bear through the rest of his day of fasting. Another grumble passed through he belly and up his throat and Drakma's resolve weakened further.

As the male wandered aimlessly through the unknown territory an all too familiar scent hit his nose. The scent of a fresh kill, instantly his stomach began to overpower his mind. Taking over his senses, his mouth began to salivate, his pupils dilating. Growl after growl rose through his throat and urged the male to find the source of the scent. But his heart refused, holding him back. He knew this was his day of fasting, and though this problem always arose he never found himself able to control.

Shaking his mane roughly in disgust, the male tried to gain control over his senses but still he yearned for the food. He had to resist. But it just wasn't working. He had to find the food, perhaps if he saw it, and discovered it was a meat he didn't care for, he wouldn't be so tempted to devour it. Yes, this was hopefully his best chance.

Licking the salivation from his lips, the male looked out over the horizon, looking for some hint as to where his nose was taking him. But nothing, just the overpowering scent of blood....

But wait - something moved - in just the corner of his eye he caught sight of it once more. It was a a slender feline, dark against the setting sky. His eyes weren't all that great so truly he couldn't tell you exactly what species it was. He just went with his gut and assumed it was a lioness. Trotting forward, he called out to her, unknowing of the disgrace that awaited him. "You up there. There's no sense in trying to run. Come down here and introduce yourself." His voice was gruff, but it wasn't meant to match the tone of fear. Though after speaking it, he supposed he could have sounded threatening.

Ohh a spicy female. He liked the spicy ones, they always seemed to play hard to get but in the end, they really weren't all that hard after all. Drakma smiled a strange little smile and took a few steps closer. Still her outline his only indication of anything. Squinting his eyes, he still couldn't pick up on any noticeable features, but nothing really stuck out. Nothing aside from her defensive stance. She seemed almost ready to fight?

Right, so he had come off as threatening. Perfect.

Sighing heavily, the lion pulled together all of his frustrations of the day, and pushed them off to the side. This wasn't a time for those things, he still wasn't prepared for a confrontation.

"I'm not here for your pride. I'm merely here to satisfy a simple matter. I hope you will be so kind as to allow me the ability." He grimaced lightly at the thought of stealing her meal. He wasn't that type of lion, she'd worked her a** off for that meal, what type of lion would he be to come in and steal from another lion so foolishly?

"My simple request is that I may set eyes on your kill. I do not intend to steal right out from under you. I merely intend to feed my stomach through my eyes."

OK yeah he was coming off as really weird. "I apologize for such an odd request, but it is of a personal nature." He took another step closer, now merely feet from the female he began to make out her features more clearly. She was dark, lightly marked on the shoulder and perhaps scarred across the eye? No wonder she was so fearful of him. And then his brain finally fell over the most important factor of them all.

She was a leopard.

A mix of anger, disgust, and hatred washed over the male as he glared at the leopardess. He couldn't believe his own reaction to her appearance, and that he had actually interacted with her of his own free will! A fire began to burn in Drakma's chest and a rumble rose in his throat, this time it came directly from his soul, no tummy involved.

Listening with to hardly any of her conversation, the male could hear the blood rushing through his ears more than her. But her actions gave him more tha enough of a story to go off of. With a laugh and a snort, the male bristled his mane, and crouched himself into an attack ready position. "Do you really think I would waste my time on the likes of you? Much less your pathetic leopard filled pride?" A rumbling laugh echoed across the expanse between them and Drakma set his glare once more on the female. "You and your kind aren't worth the time to fight. Pitiful pathetic creatures. Look at you, your stance is terrible, and you honestly think you could defeat me? HA!" Faltering his glance from her to hear kill her quickly returned to her. "Do you honestly think you could stop me if I were truly interested in your meal? I don't think you understand your place in this world if that is what you believe.." Finishing up his rant, the male began pacing back and forth before her, trying to burn off his anger, while at the same time confuse the female.

This was absolutely unnerving! To have to waste his evening in a stand off against a puny, pathetic, smelly leopardess! Look at him, sounding like such a child in his words, but he truly cared little for how he viewed her species as a whole. They were his reason for living, his reason to keep on living, even through the loss of his Mother.

With a sneer, the male kicked up the dust around him as another rumble bellowed low in his chest. He wouldn't back down from her, it would be a disgrace among humanity to give in to the likes of such a thing. But he wouldn't harm her either, though she had no way of knowing this. He was a lover not a fighter, and when he was a fighter, it would only be for one. Though just because his violence was saved for another didn't mean his hate had to be.

"You stand as though you have something to protect -" He ruffled his mane in agitation. "I feel it a shame to tell you that your puny kill isn't worth the effort."

More pacing, quickly, in circles, hoping to wear her out and have her leave first, or possibly just to annoy her into storming off. This wouldn't end in a stalemate nor would it end in his defeat. There was only one way this was going to end.

"Come to think of it, what are you doing here all alone? You claim you have a pride, yet no one is here to back you up. Could it be that they realize you're just as pathetic as i've already mentioned?"

Drakma watched through slitted eyes as the disgusting leopardess slunk away, her kill in tow. He cared little for the kill, it was tainted, tainted and useless. Spitting his hatred from his tongue, he looked to the sky once more for guidance. He had won this round, but he had won simply because he would not fight a female. Would he win the next one, should his foe be a male? Only time would tell but until that time came, he would take this win. Regardless of how small and silly it may be.