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 Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:52 am
 Kuma had been there when his pride had met a small group of rogues at the border. He wasn’t necessarily suspicious of the bunch but their numbers were still enough to cause a small amount of uneasiness in the wild dog. While he was one of the few non-lions of the pride, everyone he knew and cared for was part of the En Gedi and Kuma would do anything to make sure that all of them (especially Astar, the lioness with whom he had a deep bond) were safe at all times.
Which was why he was now near the borders of the pride, sneaking around as he looked for anything that might be perceived as strange or suspicious. If the newcomers had lied about their numbers or anything else, Kuma would run back and warn everyone about it before anything bad could happen. That was the plan, anyway.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 4:10 pm
More traps needed to be set both around the den and the girls as well as further out, branching in a circular pattern from the den. She now needed to ensure the safety of the other rogues. Just because she wasn't and couldn't feed them, didn't mean she could at least put up a good defense for them while she was out hunting or fishing for the girls. At least that's what Irit thought.
She'd set up an additional dozen traps already today between bringing back a bush squirrel or two for the girls to share. She might have to start hunting at night, and that was dangerous. For now she could hunt squirrel and check the traps, set more up, scare away any pride members that she could.
As to that thought, Irit was coming up to a tricky trap. Sometimes it caught food for her, but she would have to spend most of the night after feeding the girls to re-springing it. But if it caught a pride member snooping too close, it was worth it.
And the hate and anger boiled up for a second; if the pride member got hurt in the process of springing the trap, all the better. Hussan, a constant companion in death, following her on her way doing the role he'd have filled in life, seemed to approve of the boiling emotions. Irit didn't shrug it off or feel bad or odd about it because Hassan was not upset about it. It was okay to feel that way, and when the pride left and the girls could take care of themselves ... Well, then Hussan would have all her attention again.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 3:13 am
Kuma kept moving forward at a steady pace, noting the unfamiliar scents that lingered in the area. His movements became stealthier and he stopped frequently to listen to the sounds around him, searching for any hints of danger that might suddenly befall him. One would think the En Gedi were at war with the way Kuma was acting but the wild dog liked to be prepared for every possibility that fate decided to throw at him.
He had just come up to a small open area when his senses began to tingle. He froze, feeling there was something wrong but was unable to determine what it was. He took a few more steps forward and as the uncomfortable sensation did not ease up, he stopped again. Apart from the birds all around him, Kuma found nothing amiss and after a few moments of silent contemplation, he was finally was forced to make the decision to either continue on his way or return home. He chose the former and the moment the dark wild dog took that fateful step forward, Kuma felt the ground come alive all around him. With a surprised whelp, he tried to dodge the sharp things that attacked him from every direction. What was going on?!
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:21 pm
The whistling sounds of the trap Irit had just been thinking of pumped adrenaline and excitement, anger and hatred through her veins. For a split second, even Hussan faded behind the combination of emotions roaring through her. Then Irit realized his ghost like appearance, and his anger building from it. She wanted to seek his forgiveness for it, but the possibilities of what had sprung the trap were pressing. The girls needed more food. Malkia was always straved and Ahava didn't eat as much as she should be eating.
Irit gave Hussan the only thing she could, a sad apologetic look before she prowled as quickly and quietly to the small clearing where the trap was. She knew he would follow, but hopefully he wouldn't sulk. A silly hope because Hussan sulked more now in death than he ever had before. She'd fix that soon. After she and the other rogues got rid of that pride that took so much from their daughters. After that they would be able to take care of themselves.
Feet away from the small clearing, Irit saw a canine caught in the crosshairs. She couldn't tell if it was worth eating or if it belonged to the pride. She stayed quiet and watched it within the trap.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:00 pm
After the initial shock, it wasn’t long before Kuma regained control of himself. He realized he was quite stuck and almost cried for help but quickly stopped himself when he remembered he was still in what could be now called “enemy territory”, probably too far for any of his fellow pride members to hear – or to reach him should he attract the wrong kind of attention. Slowly, the dark wild dog attempted to wiggle his way out of his current predicament. It wasn’t easy but Kuma wasn’t particularly large and still rather flexible so after a few moments, he had somehow managed to nearly set himself free even if he was most certainly not unscathed. His bracelet was still tying him to the strange concoction, however and Kuma focused all his attention on releasing his leg without damaging his bracelet.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 6:46 am
Finally, Irit decided a wild wild dog wouldn't have the accessories the caught canine sported. It was part of the pride that had invaded Hussan and her home. And worse now, it was getting horribly close to the girls and her den. It was a scout. Irit knew it was a scout. The damned hated pride was going to move into even this section of their home. Irit wouldn't allow it. No. No, she wouldn't.
Hussan's ghostly snarl paled in comparison to her own filled with hatred, desperation, grief, rage and all the other negative emotions filling her person.. She stepped out of hiding as the little pride member was concentrating on releasing its leg. She should pounce it and kill it, but something held her back from the killing edge. A memory of herself in her own mind that had not been filled with hate and rage and grief. Somehow it kept her from taking lethal actions, but just barely. "Out to a bit far from your pride, aren't you?" Irit asked instead, prowling slowly closer to the wild dog. "Scouting? Spying? Prowling? What are you doing here, dog? Did you come to chase us farther away from our home?" Irit's voice had been getting slightly louder as the hatred and rage spilled out of her. But her volume and tone became low and menacing as Hussan's ghost whispered something far worse in her ear. If her snarl and glare could become worse, if hate and rage could fill it any more, it would have. And maybe it did. But Irit didn't notice. She was focused on one of the enemies. "Did you come to kill my daughters, dog? To take them? To cubnap them? I won't let you," Irit growled.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:10 pm
Kuma froze without turning around as the unfamiliar voice reached him, not having expected someone to be right there in one of his worst moments of weakness. If the last time when he was barely an adult he’d been found by Astar and offered a home in her pride, this situation felt much more dangerous.
“Scouting. I’m a Scout.” He said calmly, slowly turning around to see what he was up against. A lioness. A stranger. Maybe even an enemy. Up until the point when she started heatedly accusing him of attempted murder or cubnapping, Kuma was certain he could get out of this mess through peaceful dialogue. He quickly realized the lioness was somewhat unsteady which didn’t really bode well for his near future.
“We don’t kill or steal cubs in our pride.” He said slowly, being a little more discreet in his efforts to free himself from what he now realized was a rather well-made trap. Almost there… “Or adults for that matter. We’re pretty peaceful there.”
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:33 pm
Irit barely noticed the rising negativity. It wasn't important. But her cubs were. She was too far gone to hear the reason in the wild dog's answers or the attempt at calm in his voice. In fact, his figure was transforming in her mind's eye. He was starting to snarl back at her there. She was losing her grip on reality. Hussan was growing clearer as the wild dog's appearance turned more menacing and taunting whispered by the wind were carried to her ears, replacing his voice and words."Evil. That's what you are. Evil. Starving my cubs. Stealing our home land. Killing my mate." Irit lowered herself into a pouncing and hunting posture. "I will kill you before you get near my cubs!."Irit jumped at the canine, expecting to find its neck in her jaws when she landed.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:13 am
“You’re not listening…” Kuma said slowly, wary eyes widening with worry as he tried to interrupt the lioness’ accusations while still focusing some of his attention in releasing his leg from the trap. “We’ve never had problems in our borders, we haven’t kill-“
The dark canine finally managed release his paw from the trap and just in time as well because the lioness had suddenly lunged at him. He shifted on the spot, scrambling to avoid the deadly grasp of a lion’s mouth and while he managed to keep his neck safe, her teeth left a deep wound in his shoulder and side. He whelped and attempted to dodge her towering figure, visibly surprised by the lioness’ ferocity.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:30 pm
"No. You're not listening. You're not welcome here. Invading our home. Driving us out. Claiming the most fruitful areas and forcing us to hunt in dangerous areas. To hunt dangerous prey. There's blood on your paws and deaths' on your heads!" Irit growled out when her jaws missed snapping into the canine's neck.
At first she didn't notice the blood whetting her tongue and staining her teeth. When the taste of it sunk into her awareness, two things happened. Irit noticed the hatred and anger building higher and it scared her. She felt the indifference toward life and death, and her own life, not just the canine's. She felt like she didn't care about whether she lived or died as long as she destroyed this member of the horrible pride that had taken her land and caused the death of her mate. And she couldn't die. Her daughters still needed her. They didn't know how to hunt or defend themselves. That checked the indifference and pulled back the hate and rage to a more manageable level .
Second, Hussan flicked and than came back ... more. Irit could have sworn that she felt him. His fur brushing up along her own. She lost focus. Lost her unsure grip with reality. Hussan was the center of everything, her life, her mind, her heart. And they had daughters that needed care. And the canine wasn't going to give them the meat they needed."Leave us alone." Irit muttered to the canine, even though she wasn't sure he was still there. "Just leave us alone. Why won't you let us live?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:41 pm
Kuma took the opportunity to wiggle out of reach which wasn’t that easy when one was bruised and bleeding. He looked back for only a second to make sure she wasn’t following him before he turned and ran as if his tail was on fire. Despite the very obvious limp, the wild dog was very fast, a mere dark blur brushing the landscape until it disappeared from sight. He wanted to warn Astar that there was a very unstable lioness in their borders and that Scouts shouldn’t be alone in the area.
He didn’t even think of an answer for her accusations but he couldn’t ignore the possibility that the En Gedi truly were competition when it came to acquiring food sources in their new home. In the past, the pride had invited the area’s rogues to join them – like it had happened with Astar’s family – but Kuma wasn’t sure he wanted that offer to be extended to strange lioness even though the pain in her voice did pierce his hear in that moment. But right now, he just wanted to get home and lie down.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 4:51 am
Irit felt so - drained. Exhausted was even filled with too much energy. With Hussan so near, and the battle to resist his call and stay with their daughters, was taking even more energy from her. She just needed to lie down. This trap and the others, they would have to wait. But Irit couldn't bunk down here. Not so close to where the pride would be able to stumble across her. And she needed to be reminded of why she was still resisting Hussan. She needed to hear, feel and smell her daughters, even when she closed her eyes.
Leaving the trap un-sprung felt like a waste and in another way a sin, but Irit just couldn't do it now. She was barely going to make it back to the den before falling off her legs. With any luck, not that she had much, Irit would return in an hour or so. And the other traps would hold preybeasts enough to feed the girls and herself. Because Irit knew, if she didn't replenish the energy that was drained from the rage, hate, shock of Hussan's growing presence, and the battle to not follow where he led, the next time Hussan insisted she join him, she would. Daughters or not. Irit knew without food, fuel, she wasn't going to be able to stop herself.
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