"Where are we even going," Groaned Vakasa, the red hyena clearly annoyed with what was going on. The whole plan was a simple one, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make a fuss about it. After all, they had been walking for hours, possibly even days. Okay... maybe not days, but he had no doubt it had been at least a couple of hours. The sun was starting to go down from the sky, and he was pretty sure it had been going up when they had started their little adventure.
"You know where we're going- we're going to follow that lioness and make sure we pull one over on her," Gennadios replied, "she used us and didn't give us anything in return! I think that deserves some kind of revenge, even if I do find myself madly in love with her."
"You're not in love with her," Vakasa was quick to point out, "you're just fascinated that she managed to get the better of us, just like I am. It's rare when a con man gets conned, so I'm still a little shocked myself. But even so, what makes you think that we'll even be able to find her?" He sighed and watched the leopard move on ahead of him. The two were clearly working at different paces- he was moving a hell of a lot slower than the black cat. But Gennadios did seem to slow down whenever he saw his friend becoming speck-like, so that kept them from completely losing track of one another. He might have felt more inclined to keep up if he didn't think the whole thing was completely insane. They would never be able to find someone they had told directions to the day before- why had they left it so long to head out on revenge? Did he think that he was going to gain something from having given her a head start? All Vakasa wanted to do was go back and have a nice nap. Forget the whole thing had even happened.
"Well, we did give her directions," continued Gennadios, once again getting ahead of his friend as he pushed himself forever forward, "and I know where the pride she's going to is. We can probably catch up to her just because we'll be able to find a quicker path." He smiled at the thought.
"And what do you plan on doing once you do catch up to her," the hyena asked with a clearly irritated voice, "ask her to give you something for your efforts? It's already over and done. Wouldn't it be better to focus on a new target? You have to learn to cut your loses- it's the first rule of working a good con."
The leopard grunted in response, looking over his shoulder at the other. "And what makes you think I'm trying to be a con artist? Just because I hang out with you doesn't mean I want to emulate you. I only want to find out for sure if she had intended to work us all along, or if it had just appeared like she had played us for saps. There's nothing wrong with wanting to discover the truth, right? And if she did try and pull the fur over our eyes, then we'll have to figure out some way to repay her. Maybe make her hunt for us or something. All this walking it making me hungry, anyway."
Vakasa could only laugh at that- as if they would be able to tell a lioness to hunt for them. Even if they were the wronged parties, and they happened to be males, a lioness was in a whole different league. They didn't have to care about right or wrong because they were large and could kick the s**t out of pretty much everyone around them. It was part of the reason Vakasa envied them so much. As a con artist, he really would have benefited with the body of a lion. Strength and intelligence? If only the fates had been so kind to him. Unfortunately, the gene pool had decided to toss him in with the hyena, a decidedly weaker species. Even Gennadios, who was probably the laziest leopard he had ever known, could kick his a** if he really wanted to.
Good thing they were friends.
"How about we give up? Its' been a long time and we're just not catching up to her. I think she probably went off course at some point and maybe went to mess with someone else. Or maybe she just got lost- that would make you happy, wouldn't it? She ended up lost and got too near to one of those bad prides. Why don't you just believe that and we can move along home." Though Gennadios knew Vakasa was only thinking of himself, maybe he did have a point. It didn't look like they were going to be able to find the lioness. luck was not on their side. It seemed luck had not been on their side the whole time. Maybe that was why the female had managed to play them in the first place- she simply had the fates on her side. The Gods liked her, or something.
"I guess we can go home," he relented finally, "it does look like we missed the window in finding her. I'm just... so annoyed. I don't normally let them go without some kind of reward, and she didn't even sleep with me. It was the least she could have done!"
"So that's what it's about," laughed Vakasa, "you're just bitter you didn't get laid! Don't worry, friend, I'll get you a nice lady friend for the evening." He gave his friend a nudge, having just caught up with him, before turning around. As the leopard followed, he grinned. "Cheer up- If you just get over it I'll bring you two ladies."
"You're a good friend," commented Gennadios with a firm nod, "alright, you've convinced me. Let's go home and just forget about the whole, horrible thing. As lovely as she was, we'll probably never see her again." He sighed. Maybe it was for the best- he didn't need to be conned twice.
WC: 1,037
