[FIN] In the Dark (Cherna & Mjusi)

[mouselet]

The night was quiet. Perhaps too quiet? There was something in the air that the green lioness didn't like when she raised her head to sniff delicately. A coming storm? Possibly. One or more strangers? Also quite possible. But whatever the scent was, it was far too faint for her to readily identify it.

That lack of knowledge bothered Mjusi, for it was an utter familiarity and awareness of her surroundings that made the lioness such a deadly huntress and fearsome foe. When she chose to be, of course. But she couldn't make a decision if she didn't have the necessary information.

Green eyes glanced briefly up at the dark sky. The stars were clearly visible, marking the time and season, but the moon was dark this night, rendering the night a swath of shadows within which little could be seen.

She didn't like it. Not when she wasn't the only one lurking in the darkness.  

[bipolar bee]

Cherna had been alone for a long, long time. Such a long time, in fact, that it had made her a little rough around the edges, a little warier than she'd had to be when she was much younger. Life had been simple enough in her youth, but ever since her home pride had scattered to the winds, she'd been forced to adapt and change for her own self-preservation.

When a strange scent carried to her on a light, warm breeze, Cherna froze and peered around. Her hackles immediately rose, and her tail lashed behind her with malcontent. The scent was growing stronger, closer, and Cherna was not about to be caught off guard.

Lowering herself to the ground, Cherna slowed her breathing and fell completely silent. The lack of any moonlight made it near impossible to see.  

[mouselet]

Mjusi waited with the patience of one who knows how to stalk one's prey. There should - would! - come a point when either the scent would become stronger and clearer, or fade away. In this respect, as she stood still as a statue, she felt much like her own meals must when they felt her waiting.

It was not a pleasant feeling. There was a reason why one was predator and not prey, after all.

Finally, the breeze brought a stronger version of the scent and the green lioness relaxed. Another lion. A female. Still possibly a threat, but now that was known and quantified to some degree. There was nothing more fearsome than that which was not and could not be known. She wasn't out of danger yet, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the ways in which she might be in peril were much more limited than they had been.

Quietly, stealthily, the striped lioness began to make her way in the direction the smell came from. Just because the scariest danger had passed did not mean she would trust that all threat had gone from the moonless night.  

[bipolar bee]

The scent on the wind grew stronger still, and Cherna tensed. It had not been easy living a life on her own, but she'd gotten rather skilled at looking after herself. Cherna always put her own safety and well-being first, and it was because of that alone that she'd survived as long as she had.

Ever alert, Cherna skulked about, belly to the ground. Her ears were perked, eyes wide. She was ready to attack if she had to, even if she didn't want to.

Ahh, a female. Alone. Cherna exhaled loudly and rose to her feet, senses still acutely attuned to the area around her.

"I smell you there. Quit slithering around like a snake and come out."

It probably wasn't the wisest thing she'd ever done, but if one of them didn't make a move they'd be circling one another all night.  

[mouselet]

So, the other lioness would break the silence first. It was no fur off Mjusi's back, no problem at all. And frankly, the green lioness was inclined to believe that the other was more afraid than she. Why else speak out? Mjusi herself would have been content to let things lie in the silence of the moonless night.

Still, speech deserved a like response. And it was far easier to find the other based on sound instead of scent.

"It is rather difficult to slither when one has limbs," the striped female observed, as she came close enough that her dark-adjusted eyes could pick out the silhouette of her conversational partner.  

[bipolar bee]

Cherna let out a rough snort. She was feeling nervous, but also a steely determination not to let that nervousness be obvious. Weakness in front of strangers would only lead to trouble, and Cherna was not looking for any sort of trouble. Up until the other lioness spoke, Cherna was still hoping that this might be an amicable passing of strangers in the moonless night.

Cherna wasn't feeling so hopeful after the lioness spoke.

"Perhaps," Cherna grunted, ears pinned just the slightest, "but I think you understand the meaning of my words."

She was silent, wary, and watched the dark striped lioness with great interest.  

[mouselet]

If there was light to be seen by, Mjusi would have shrugged. As it was, she didn't waste the energy on a pointless gesture that couldn't be witnessed.

"Oh, very well," she replied. "And yet, you yourself crept as stealthily as I, so I don't see how that makes you any better."

The green lioness was fairly certain she had the measure of the other now. Someone who did not care to be inconvenienced - and certainly not made afraid! - by others, but would not always show them the same courtesy. Frankly, it mattered little to Mjusi.  

[bipolar bee]

"I was not aware that this was a game, or even a contest," Cherna grouched, her voice nothing more than a low hiss whispering through the tall grass through which they walked.

"But I thank you for the compliment, for you walk on silent feet."

She sounded a little smug, but Cherna did not have any intention of starting a fight that she could not finish. She was not well-versed in the art of fighting. She had been protected as a cub - even into adulthood - and the last thing she wanted was to evoke the ire of another.

Much.  

[mouselet]

"All life is such a game, a contest of skill and will," Mjusi replied simply. If someone was so blind as to refuse to see such a basic truth to the world, well, they would surely find themselves falling behind in the grand scheme of things.

Some of those, admittedly, seemed content with their lot. But that life was not for the green lioness. Not in the least.

However, now that she'd satisfied her curiosity and confirmed that this lioness was unlikely to be any kind of threat, Mjusi no longer had any interest in the stranger.

"May your skill continue to serve you well," she offered in parting, before heading off once more - and not in the direction she'd come from. There was much else to do this night.  

[bipolar bee]

Cherna chewed the words over for a long while, long after the other lioness had left. There was wisdom in those words, she knew it, and she was briefly thankful that she'd come across the stranger. She felt wiser for it, in all honesty, though it had been a bit nerve-wracking at first.

She said nothing, and did not move until she was certain that the other lioness was gone. Only then did she rise to her feet and move in a direction that carried her away from the scent of the other.