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 Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:52 pm
 Shiri's small form crept low through the grass, lime green eyes intent on catching the small hare before her. There were only a few feet between the two creatures and as the lioness neared, she could feel her mouth salivating. Four days had passed without food to fill her empty stomach and by now she was becoming desperate. Silent footsteps eased Shiri forward, until she felt it was nearly time to pounce. With a deep, quiet breath, she lunged forward in the wild hopes of catching her prey.
The hare had apparently sensed her presense and taken off during the same instant. With wide eyes and a shocked expression, the female smacked into the ground with a thud, paws empty and stomach still growling. With such little energy, she felt she couldn't even chase after it.
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Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:06 pm
Mweko peered curiously at the lioness cub through the underbrush. Her heart sank when she saw the hare run away, and even more after running her one good eye over the young cubs' pelt, noticing the fur hanging loosely over ribs and bones. She gaped sadly, not knowing what to do. Her blue and grey eyes followed the hare sadly as it bolted away.
Prey had been difficult, even for the strong, agile young Cheetah. She felt bad that the young sack of bones couldn't catch anything, even a Hare. What worse, it was just a cub, and it was alone. Alone .. for a while. Perhaps it didn't have anyone? Mweko's loving disposition and feminine instincts couldn't let a cub just die there, even if lions were supposedly hostile towards cheetahs.
Mweko longed to step out of the shrubs and help her up, but her own fears stopped her. She was too nervous to do it, too scared even to help. The young Cheetah sank lower into the Savannah grass, pondering on what to do.
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Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:13 pm
Sitting in the grass, panting loudly and silently growing more upset with herself, Shiri rolled onto her side. The short sprint she had just taken left her far more weary than she would have expected, but days without food could easily do that to a young lioness. With her breathing slowly steadying, she looked about, curious to see whether another small mammal was stupid enough to linger around after seeing another dart off so rapidly. More often than now, after a failed hunt, the area would remain barren for quite some time.
With lime green eyes growing watery, Shiri continued to look over her surroundings. It would do no use to the femme to cry and allow her emotions to get the better of her. Emotions only showed weakness and Shiri would need to take control of them and find another creature for her to stalk. Shiri's eyes slowly shut as she waited, listening carefully to the area around her. It seemed only a few insects could be heard chirping in the distance.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 4:27 pm
Mweko gasped sadly, watching as the cub struggled. She slipped out of the grasses and moved silently towards a clump of grass, which was surprising twitching. Prey, Mweko thought with a purr, glancing at the starving cub in the distance.
She tasted the air; she was downwind. Perfect. The cub nor prey would be able to smell her. The cheetah advanced towards the prey and watched with narrowed eyes as a small, dusty brown rabbit cautiously slipped through the grass.
The young cheetah pounced and disappeared into a clump of overgrown terrain. A moment later, she emerged with the rabbit lying limp between her jaws.
She shuddered as she glanced at the young lioness cub; had she heard her? Mweko ducked beneath the tall grass and crept quietly towards her, hoping that her vibrant, red coat would not be noticable.
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Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 1:13 pm
As Shiri watched her surroundings more carefully, she struggled to remain confident in her own abilities. She had missed her meal and by her sudden chase, there was not as likely of a chance of her finding a second creature. Sighing quietly, the female kept low to the ground in an attempt to remain unseen. As she crept about, however, she heard a sudden movemet not too far off.
With wide eyes, the female darted off from where she was, breaking branches on her way. Breathing out roughly, she felt foolish for having not noticed the creature that had been so near her! By the sound of its movements and the great shift of grasses beneath it, the lioness was certain it was a creature of great size. Still breathing roughly, the female looked up in an attempt to see whatever it had been. When she had looked up, however, whatever that had moved was gone. The grasses remained still, other than the slight breeze the wind offered them.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:12 pm
Mweko's blood ran cold. The cub had heard her. She dropped the rabbit. "Wait!", she exclaimed, stepping out of the grass to reveal herself. She blinked nervously at the starving cub as it ran off. "Please, stop", she called after her, feeling guily for scaring her.
She picked the rabbit back up, clamping it softly between her jaws, and trotted quickly after Shiri.
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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:01 pm
Shiri's form became rigid when she heard a voice nearby. Her ears had not been fooling her and someone clearly was nearby! Turning her head, the young lioness could see a large cheetah approaching, with a dead rabbit hanging from her jaws. Uncertain as to what the large cat wanted with Shiri, the small lioness could not help but retreat a few steps. "Why were you hiding?" She demanded, voice shaking from having been caught off guard. The small lioness was weak from hunger, but was willing to fight for her life if this creature wished to do her any harm.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:02 pm
Mweko took a few steps forward, then lowered her head below that of Shiri's as an offering of peace. The cheetah dipped her head farther to the floor and dropped the rabbit at the young lioness' paws.
"I was only being as cautious as you," she spoke, her voice slightly quivering. She brought her head back up and straightened her shoulders, fixing her one seeing eye on the defensive cub. "I saw you were hungry," she started, nervous to expose Shiri's weakness, "and I caught this for you. I am a mother; I just couldn't watch you stay hungry like this."
She stepped away, giving Shiri room to take the rabbit.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:14 pm
Shiri recognised the lowering of the cheetahs head as a sign of peace and quickly eased her form. She understood that this large cat wished to do no harm to her, but when Mweko dropped the rabbit at her feet, the young lioness became confused. Certainly the cheetah's aim had been off. Why would she give her valuable meal to the complete stranger? Shiri felt her mouth begin to salivate at the mere thought of the possible meal.
As Mweko responded to Shiri's accusations, the lioness felt her ears lower. Why would she speak so out of line to a complete stranger that had only been meaning to help? Hadn't Shiri shown the same fear from the other and hid away beneath the tall grasses? Feeling a great amount of guilt and remorse for her bitter words, the lioness stepped closer to the cheetah and rabbit and bowed lightly, "...I am Shiri.. I appreciate your kindness.." It was difficult to allow herself to thank the other, but without Mweko's help, it was very possible the young lioness might have passed out.
Lowering her muzzle to the rabbit, she took a deep breath and prepared to eat. Before doing so, however, she returned her gaze to Mweko, "...as a mother, surely your kittens would have a greater need for this rabbit?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:35 pm
Mweko noticed the guilt in Shiri's eyes. A smile broke about her face, trying to show that no harm had been done. She bowed in return, hanging her head for a long moment before raising her eyes back to Shiri's.
"It is a pleasure to meet another kind soul among these grasses. My name is Mweko." She paused, looking worriedly down at the cub. "Please, do go on and eat."
She grinned at hearing Shiri's question. "You remind me of myself at your age," she started, then paused. Not necessarily. She was frightened of the world, then. Everything seemed a bit brighter, now that she had Bichi.
"So polite," she trailed off for a moment, deep in thought, and then clicked back. "No, no dear, go ahead and take it. Uhaya, Vitu, Binti, and Meka are are not little ones anymore. They can catch food for themselves."
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:13 pm
Shiri was surprised by the behavior of the cheetah. It had been one of her first time seeing one of the massive, majestic creatures in person. Before she had only heard stories from rogue lions and by the stories, she expecting something much more frightening. Looking over Mweko as the cheetah spoke, Shiri could not help smile. This cheetah was willing to sacrifice a meal to a complete stranger in order to help it in its life. This was one act of kindness Shiri would never forget. She only wished that someday she might repay Mweko.
Shiri nodded upon being told to eat and quickly, though she attempted to calm down slightly, began to eat the small rabbit before her. The flesh tore easily in her mouth and she savored every last bite. When she neared the end, she lifted her mouth, licked her hungry muzzle and smiled, "I am Shiri.. I am thankful for our meeting Mweko.." and after introducing herself she went to finish her rabbit, though she still felt somewhat awful for taking the others prey.
Once Shiri had finished, she looked back up to Mweko and only smiled broader at the names of the cheetah's children. It would be wonderful to have young cubs of her own someday. Shiri only hoped her skills in hunting would have improved by then so that she might support them. Worried that the cheetah might leave soon, Shiri quickly asked, "..how were you able to catch the rabbit so easily?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:43 pm
(I think I rambled a bit here. <3; Sorry!)
Watching as the roung lioness ate, a smile worked its way across Mweko's lips. The girl was young, yes, but there was an admirable maturity about her that impressed the cheetah.
She cast a nervous glance around their surroundings, her motherly instincts telling her to keep watch for danger. Although Shiri appeared to be quick on her paws, Mweko couldn't help but feel worried by her weakness. She gracefully sat, wrapping her long tail over her paws, and turned her attention back to the cub.
A grin crept over her face as she watched the rabbit disappear so quickly. "It's nice to meet you, Shiri," she responded with a pleased nod.
At Shiri's next question, a look of concentration spread over Mweko's face as she tried to visualize the hunt.
"It just comes naturally, as you get older," she answered.
She supposed it was true; it was practice that had made her such a skillfull hunter. In this case, she pondered, maybe it wasn't the best answer. After all, Shiri appeared to be alone, with only her own claws to hunt with. No parents or siblings in sight. The cheetah bit her lip, not wanting to steer the conversation to somewhere uncomfortable for the cub. Instead, she settled on the idea of teaching her the secret of the hunt, so that she may be able to live on her own. And certainly her previous comment wouldn't be enough.
"You must learn to use your own elements," she finally said, giving a curt nod.
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:32 am
Shiri was, indeed, quick to finish what was left of the rabbit. She ate with a fierce hunger that only proved that she had not eaten in quite some time. Releasing a deep breath once she had finished, she smiled, licked her lips and looked over towards the cheetah. With a nod of her head, the lioness was not sure just how to express her thanks. As timid as she was, the cheetah may have just saved her life. Shiri had endured days on end without food, but those past days had been hot and without shade, food or water, one could go in an instant.
"Naturally..?" Shiri questioned. She knew at the present she often made a fool of herself, but she had certainly improved since she first began hunting. Sighing, the yellow colored lioness wondered just when it would suddenly hit her. When you were alone with no one to assist you, the skills of a hunter needed to be natural already. "Thank you." She finally said, breaking away from her current thoughts.
When it had seemed the lioness was not satisfied with the cheetah's answer, Mweko offered something else. Lime green eyes perked as she listened carefully, "My elements? What do you mean?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:00 pm
"Well," Mweko began, "you have a nose, for one." She chuckled, gesturing at Shiri's with an outstretched paw. "Just like how you learn to listen to certain things and not to others, say, the rustle of a rabbit in a bush and the sound of water trickling in the background, you must learn to alienate all smells around you but the target scent."
Mweko knew quite well how tempting it was to let one's eyes and nose wander in the great savannah, but also knew that hunting would be impossible for the cub if she let herself be distracted.
"Another thing is, look at that tail of yours. It was made for grace and balance, and if you use it right, it will come in handy for hunting. Lastly, I'd say you need to work on speed. You must propel yourself forward with all the strength you have, while still maintaining grace, and run. Really put your legs into it, and you'll fly."
Mweko gave a satisfied nod. "Your elements."
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:10 pm
Shiri's pale green eyes watched Mweko with absolute interest. She had never been taught by another the tricks of the hunt and was determined to get everything down correctly. When her nose was mentioned, the cub wiggled it and began to sniff. She could smell the warm grass around them as well as the dirt beneath their feet.
And when Mweko talked about the lioness' tail, Shiri waved it behind her. She had never really thought twice about the large appendage behind her and now that she was able to sit back and think about it, she realised it was likely her tail that had thrown her off as she dived forward.
Stretching out her paws and digging her claws into the soil, the small lioness felt prepared to attempt a hunt. Looking about, her green colored eyes spotted nothing. With another wiggle of her nose, the lioness' ears perked and she lowered herself to the ground. The small footsteps of a mouse could be felt, vibrating faintly on the soil. Looking up the Mweko, the lioness almost asked for permission.
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