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 Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:45 am
 Mounting the trunk of a fallen log, the lion peered blearily across to survey the little piece of land he had claimed as his own. He had no pride. No mate. No friends. And what family he did have had been left behind long ago. And yet, to him, alone as he was, this was his and he would mark it. Protect it. Defend it. But, as of late, there had been no one to defend it against. It seemed that his little patch of land was not a prime spot in the eyes of a passing rogue and on the occasion that he had spotted a rogue on the horizon they had always gone on by, far out of reach. What was wrong with everyone? Did they not want to come and say hello to him? He smiled, amused at that thought. He couldn't say he would blame them for that. He always had liked to think of himself as the 'scary' sort.
Still, to help fix this little problem, he'd gone hunting and dragged back a kill. A sickly little wildebeest, dehydrated and young. The taste of hot blood in his mouth had done wonders for his mental state and had put him in one of his better moods. But still, the wildebeest had hardly put up a good fight and he was itching for a real contest. His life was wasting and now that he was fully grown, the seer had nothing to fear.
Except, apparently, the lack of challengers.
Maybe it was time to move on. Find a new home. Harrass some pride cats on the borders of their territory. Find a tasteful little female to spend some time with and bear him strong sons. Hunt down his siblings and see how far they had gotten in their lives. Yes, they all sounded like wonderful ideas but Hssiss was not a focused individual and he rarely did anything that wasn't driven by hatred. Lust was not a known thing to him and females - for the most part - were irritating creatures. But what was there to be angry about now? Family had made him angry. So he had left. And now there was no one to be angry about but himself - the healing wounds on his body most likely self-inflicted and not gained from fights with others.
Snagging his claws into the rotten wood he wrenched splinters from he bark as he leapt back down to the ground, kicking aside the skull of a young hare that had been eaten as a snack shortly after his coming here. Beyond that, settled amongst the grasses, was the half-eaten wildebeest. Vultures had already begun to circle and as Hssiss settled down to watch them, he wondered whether anyone else might see their circling and come to investigate.
That could be interesting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:16 pm
 Not all the birds were vultures. There was a large eagle circling on a higher thermal, watching both vultures and lion. He'd known there probably wouldn't be much of interest, were he to see what the vultures had found, but he was hungry and could easily outmatch any vulture, so why not take a peek?
But what was this lion? The big black male was watching the vultures. Had he been the one to kill the wildebeest? Hmmm. Latitare shot off to inform his partner.Yareha wasn't heading anywhere in particular. He was just sort of walking. In a direction. The same direction Latitare was scouting in. His friend Facio had given him quite a lot to think about. Including the fact that if Ieiunium and Ghazaala had had children...how many other lionesses that he'd passed the night with had done the same? The thought was...sobering. To think that he might have children scattered all over... His musing was interrupted by Latitare's return. The white lion listened as the eagle described what he'd seen, including the lion who'd been watching the vultures and wildebeest carcass. Yareha shrugged. It seemed reasonable to go talk to this stranger. He hadn't had anything bad happen from talking to a rogue, even if he and the other hadn't always agreed. Soon enough, the circling vultures came into view. If he didn't have Latitare to tell him exactly where the stranger was, Yareha would never have suspected there was another lion around. The white lion headed unerringly for the black.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:32 pm
A bird was a bird in Hssiss' eyes and so he had no inkling at all that somewhere up there an eagle had been and gone. Birds had their uses but he'd never seen much point in musing over the different types. They all had wings and that was pretty much all this lion believed he needed to know. He certainly didn't spend a lot of time looking up at the sky.
He was yawning widely when Yareha arrived on the scene; his body stretched out across the dry grasses. His dark colouring - whilst good in shadow - worked against him in the light of day, so he was easy enough to spot, especially when he spotted the white lion and leapt to his paws. Fantastic! A challenger! Perhaps the scrawny wildebeest had come in handy after all! It had sated his hunger for food and blood and drawn in a poor, unsuspecting rogue. That might be a plan to remember for the future. So far so good.
Grinning manically as his tail whipped back and forth, he stepped forwards, eyeing up the new arrival. Hm. Pale. Golden-maned. That was a 'pretty-boy' if Hssiss had ever seen one.
"Back off." Hssiss warned, sounding more amused and excited than angry or threatening at that particular moment. "This is my home. My food." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and then continued: "On second thoughts. Do it. Steal it. I dare you."
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:40 pm
The white lion stopped abruptly as the stranger started speaking so negatively. What in the world was wrong with him? Well, okay, maybe this was the black lion's territory and he was invading, but it seemed like the other male wanted a fight! Yareha could defend himself, but he never sought out a fight with a passing stranger! Mazin...Mazin was hardly a stranger and there had been much more going on with that conflict.
"Why do you want a fight?" Yareha asked the other in confusion. Since that was, in the end, what his words boiled down to.
The eagle was circling above once again, using the vultures for camouflage. He had no idea if the other lion had noticed him or not, but at least this way he could be said to be out of the way, and not interfering. But still close enough to help his friend, if it came to that. Latitare hadn't seen much of the black lion, but he didn't like the male's attitude at all.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:53 pm
"What kind of a question is that?" Hssiss snapped. Had he not been in a fight before? Did he not know the thrill of adrenaline in his veins? The battle to ensure you stayed ahead of your opponent so that you emerged victorious and not the other. And then the rage and hatred when the other landed a hit and the heat of the retaliation as you tried to make up for those mistakes. It was a wonderful feeling and he had strived for it for as long as he could remember. But this lion...he didn't get it.
Hssiss' ears fell back into his mane as he snarled at the pale-pelted lion. "Why not? We're both here. Alive. And you are encroaching on my territory. I do so hate it when lions do that." He smiled, chuckling a little under his breath. Still he had not noticed the eagle - and he probably wouldn't unless it unleashed an attack from above. Bad things - he had always been taught - came at you from the ground.
Flexing his claws he gave a casual sort of shrug and then feigned a lunge, letting out a peal of laughter.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:01 pm
"I'm sorry for trespassing, but a fight between us serves no purpose," Yareha sidestepped the lunge, and attempted to elucidate why combat, in this situation, was a waste of time, energy and effort. "If you're so territorial, I'll leave," he offered. After all, the white lion had no interest in staying in any one place right now. Nor did he care for the half-eaten carcass fouling the air. As far as he was concerned, the black lion could keep it all.
Was it so wrong to seek out conversation? Apparently, with this male.
Latitare didn't like the black lion's body language one bit, and what was that feint for? Yareha hadn't done anything to threaten him! Well, if the other lion tried to attack, he'd find ten pounds of eagle hurtling at him faster than a rock could fall to the earth. And from the height where Latitare was circling, that would have a rather severe impact.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:06 pm
"No." Hssiss replied hotly, his temper beginning to flare. "How dare you come here and then presume to walk away." Dammit, what had been the point of planning this trap if the rogue was just going to be polite about it and walk away. He'd met his kind before. Damn pacifists. How disgusting. "I don't want your apologies." His tail whipped once more as he lowered his head, body growing tense as he braced himself against the ground. "I'm not going to let you go now." Not after getting his hopes up.
The dark lion took another step forwards, growling.
"If you try and run I'll sink my fangs into your back. You have no choice but to fight me now. It's too late for anything else."
Another step forwards.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:12 pm
Yareha was backing away, but being careful not to retreat. Instead, he moved to the side with every step, wary but refusing to change the length of the gap between himself and the black lion. He did not want to fight. He did not have a reason to want to fight.
"This is foolish," the white lion protested. "Are you so addicted to combat and blood that it's all you can think about?" He'd heard of lions like that. But had never met one. The Mwezi was far too peaceful and did not raise its children that way. And in his wanderings he hadn't had the misfortune to meet such a sad individual.
Until today.
Oh oh oh, now this was bad. It seemed the black lion was trying to menace Yareha! His partner still seemed to be holding firm, but Latitare wondered if it was merely a matter of time. Still, Yareha would not thank him if he interfered now. Bloody lions, always making things more difficult than they needed to be.
The eagle had to pause at that thought and laugh. Well, how did he think he'd ended up here anyway, if not for that!?
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:20 pm
Foolish? Truly? Poor rogue, not being taught the proper lessons by his parents. Well, if they hadn't taught him, Hssiss would. Fighting solved problems. Heck, it had certainly solved all of his in the past! He sneered at the question thrown his way and advanced again, unwilling to let the gap between them increase. If this lion thought he could slip away, he had another thing coming.
"Not all I think about. Just mostly." He grinned unpleasantly and this time when he lunged, it was no feint. He launched himself straight at the male, claws out in preparation.
He would make him fight, dammit.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:27 pm
Whoa! What had happened talking through problems and diplomacy? Obviously they were totally foreign concepts to this rogue. Yareha sidestepped, but the black lion's claws raked across his shoulder, causing the white lion to snarl involuntarily in response to the sudden pain.
Oh...crap. "Don't you dare!" he yelled out, knowing Latitare would hear him perfectly well, the eagle being so much keener of sense than any lion he'd ever met. With any luck, the other male would think Yareha was warning him away.
"I don't want to fight you!" he insisted, though his hackles were rising and he itched to unsheathe his own claws.
Latitare's heart dropped in panic as he saw the black lion charge at Yareha. But even as the red droplets appeared against the white fur, he heard his partner's yell. Unlike the other lion, the eagle had no doubts whatsoever who the words were meant for and he continued circling. But his wingstrokes, which had been smooth and elegant before, had acquired a certain...choppiness. Sitting and waiting were NOT his best attributes.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:34 pm
Hssiss certainly couldn't have guessed at the exchange between lion and eagle. Seeing two different species working together like that was a foreign concept to him. Besides, his head was engaged in the fight now and only the fight. Everything else had been tuned out. Everything except the white lion and his cowardly words. But Hssiss was not going to give him the pleasure of a response. It was too late for that. He wanted to taste blood and this lion was not going to deny him.
He followed up the first attack with another - aiming higher this time - in an attempt to smack Yareha across the jaw and send him twisting to the ground. And then he'd be leaping on him, biting at his throat. Tasting victory as the stranger's life drained out onto the floor.
This day wasn't turning out to be all that bad after all.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:40 pm
Ugh. It seemed that the black lion was deaf and blind to anything that was not spoken with claw and muscle, or written in blood. Yareha didn't want to fight him, but it wasn't in his nature to sit and take a beating either. So the white lion had braced himself against the next blow. The hit to his jaw hurt, but it didn't down the white lion. Yareha spat out blood and growled, blue eyes narrowing as his own gaze refocused on the fight. So, the black male wanted a fight? In that case, he'd have one.
Yareha took a few quick steps before swiping at the rogue's flank. He wasn't going to just trade hits with some maniac, no, the former hunter would rather fight smart. Today he wasn't blind with rage, the way he had been when fighting Mazin. Today he was just annoyed at this idiot's refusal to avoid combat.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:48 pm
Second hit: success!
It was clear, by now, that Hssiss was enjoying himself immensely. How was it that he could be this good at fighting? Was it in his genes? Given to him by his father? Or did the thanks lie with him alone for practising at it whenever the opportunity arose - just like now. Still, the lion hadn't gone down when he'd hit him which at least suggested his opponent wasn't completely useless.
Grinning all the while, when Yareha began to move away, Hssiss assumed he was trying to escape and tried to follow after him. The move proved to be a mistake as a moment later a flare of pain opened up along his flank. Wait. What? The rogue was attacking back? Oh, ho, ho! Well wasn't this a turn out! He did have fight in him!
Shifting his weight more evenly, the black lion attacked again, throwing himself forward with his head tucked low - intending to ram against his opponent with the flat of his skull.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:06 pm
Oh please, what did this rogue think he was, a rank amateur? It was clear that for some reason, the black lion was so pleased to have this combat. And yet he persisted in using the most straightforward attacks! When the stranger tried to ram him, Yareha simply continued to keep close to the other's flank, in what was nearly a blind spot.
The white lion almost calmly inserted his claws into the rips he'd already opened on the other male's side and pulled viciously downwards.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:19 pm
A bellowed in pain and fury when the lion insisted on attacking the same leg he'd wounded only seconds before. Where was the fun in that? Well, if he was going to play like that, he'd just have to guard his flank! He pulled back for a moment, swinging around to try and get the other lion back in full sight and slashed out with another paw.
He could feel the warmth of blood running down his injured hind leg now. Creeping thickly through his fur. Thankfully, he had suffered such wounds before and he could block them out - mostly. He just had to make sure his opponent didn't land any more attacks like that.
And he lashed out again, pulling on his fury to get him past the pain. He'd make the lion regret coming here.
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