The leopard let loose a growl of anticipation. His claws dug furiously at the stone before him and he stood with his shoulders slightly slouched in anger. Water poured at alarming speed over the waterfall he had managed to locate in this disaster of a jungle and Romano could all but resist his urge to jump in and battle the current.

But he needed to wait for him. That black furred boy who had been snooping too close to the Tafuati complex. The mere thought of the lion's intrusion made his stomach tense and divulge in the thought of ripping his ears off for it. But he wasn't senseless, he'd hear the other male out first. Perhaps he was lost and couldn't find his way out, or maybe he was loitering around in waiting for someone. If that was the case he could tell the peltless beast to piss off and wait elsewhere. No need to endanger the discovery of their comforting little tribe, he would chase the lion away if he came close.

That was the plan, until the lion overstepped his boundaries. A few days previous he had marched in the jungle after a week of not appearing and a semi infamous Oracle was in tow with him. As if... She had been captured by him. As if a mortal like him had abused a monster goddess like her. The thought had him snarling and growling as if he had gone completely insane. He probably was insane. This far from the tribe he was waiting and waiting for a person who was unlikely to crept close to the river for another hour or so. Or maybe the mortal would wait until nightfall, as that was when his pelt blended into the darkness.

Romano hissed at a small hare that popped out of the woods, causing it to run like a coward back into the bush it had emerged from. He was not in the mood for guests. He was not in the mood for anything. All Romano wanted to do now was rippppppp into that mortal's back. And that was his goal that he would stop at nothing to achieve.

Cothoza had no idea where he was going. At all. Not a single clue. Yet still he turned will purpose and walked this way and that as if he knew the jungle like the back of his paw.

Suffice to say, he barely knew what the back of his paw looked like at all. How was he suppose to navigate through a forest? He stopped with a heavy sigh and waited for the satisfying sound of a bump that was Vellamo lightly running into his tail. She was awfully noisy with a little bell attached to that shark tooth necklace she wore and rings pierced through her ear added to the noisy mess. How she managed to get such accessories amazed Cothoza as every night she would come back with more and more that she hadn't obtained the previous.

As she ran into his rear she let loose and "oof" sound and looked up to ensure her green eyes met his yellow ones as they stood awkwardly in place. Her grin of amusement soon passed as she realized what he truly wanted. Her to go and scout ahead.

"Hhhaggg." She sighed a complaint. "Yes, your majesty, anything else?" She had asked sarcastically while taking her leave. Vellamo knew they were in Tafauti territory and it was probably the whole class's combined smell he was sniffing but she had learned early on when he had caught up to her and her fleeing family that it was best to just go along with what Cothoza wanted.

So she made her way through the forest ahead of the black lion. What a coward he was, not even trusting himself to lead the way. He had to rely on her to do all the work for him! Could he even do anything for himself? He couldn't hunt, he couldn't fish, he couldn't protect himself from a baby snow storm! Heck he was even more useless than a baby! He didn't even have a decent sense of direction! Vellamo huffed out some more empty remarks as she looked around the forest with semi-flattened ears of annoyance.

She looked left, plants. She turned her head right with an unhappy head bob, plants. "All clear!" She called behind her, to the black covered lion who rushed to be ahead of the hyena again. Vellamo gave an eye roll at his behaviour. Since they were in Tafauti territory they had nothing to worry abou-

A blur of purple and cream knocked into Cothoza's side, causing the lion to fall over as the attacker rushed off to disappear.

Okay! She took that statement back! Maybe they had to be concerned after all! "Who goes there?!" She growled. Cothoza rumbled out a roar or battle cry. Whatever noise it was sounded somewhat painful and as Vellamo crept near she briefly saw why as she scanned the forest. The attacker had caused Cothoza to lightly bleed under his arm. It didn't look serious, so Vellamo ignored it and went on to continue her protective "guardian" mode.

"Answer me!" She barked. "Who is attacking!?" She called again, this time eyeing the trees as they moved. "What is your purpose!?"

It almost seemed as if she sided with him. Romano kept a low profile, he was not in the sky as Vellamo imaged, but nor was he on the ground. His colorful complex had him easy to find should he choose to hide in plain sight. So instead he hugged a tree and spied on the black lion, his prey, and the hyena who protected him from a distance of well over three feet. He would move, swiftly to hide in a bush, but not before saying "I am a banisher of unwanted guests." Taking comfort in his new hiding spot he had time to examine the lion who remained hunched over and monitor him for further weak spots.

His underbelly was exposed. Bad move, lion, bad move. "Such as the lion, who imprisons you." He charged, unsheathed his claws and prepared to dig them into flesh.

1036 words