|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:12 pm
Mashaka crouched in the bushes, waiting, watching. Just in the distance, a small cluster of gazelle grazed peacefully, downwind, unaware of any danger. The cheetah scanned the lot of them with his magenta eyes, seeking one that was little, or weak, or sick... one he could pick off from the crowd easily. He set his sights on a juvenile gazelle that was straying, at the moment, just a little too far from it's mother. Shaka focused on the little one, waited for it to get juuuuuuust a little closer... and then...
He exploded from the grass like a bullet, entirely without warning. The frightened gazelles scattered, and Mashaka bolted towards the young one. He moved so fast he practically flew, but the gazelle had one up on him. It zig-zagged, and it took sharp corners between bushes. Mashaka wasn't built to turn sharply at a sprint, and quickly he lost the creature. He muttered profanities under his breath and sat, watching all the gazelle disappear over the horizon. Now he had to rest himself a while before he could even attempt another strike. He tried to ignore how hungry he really was and, bitterly, he kicked a rock and watched it fly.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:25 pm
It was the fast, crimson streak, bolting through the grass that had caught the Rogue's attention.
Safir'ena rose to her paws slowly, her pale pink eyes watching the cat carefully, guessing that it was a Cheetah, by it's body and it's speed, and a male by it's size.
She had fallen asleep, and only when she heard the hoofbeats of the Gazelle, and the Pat-Pat-Pat-Pat of a Cat's paws against the ground, did she awake from her slumber, to an empty stomach, and a bright Sun overhead.
She shook away the hunger for a moment though, seeming, actually quite interested.. In watching this cheetah catch his meal.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:40 pm
Momentarily, Mashaka was distracted from his embitterment and the loss of his prey by a faint sound. His senses were still heightened from the concentration of the hunt, and he detected the sound of rustling in the grass behind him. His ears swiveled and he turned to see a pale blue lioness sitting there, watching him. She was a pretty thing, very pretty, and under normal circumstances Mashaka would be trying to smooth-talk her by now. However, these were far from normal circumstances. He was tired... no... exhausted... and he had just been outwitted by a tiny freaking gazelle, and he was starving... he was in no mood to socialize with... well, anyone, if he could help it.
He glared darkly at the lioness. "What're you lookin' at?" he snarled. He hoped if he brought all his anger to the surface it would make her uncomfortable enough to go away. His shoulders and his hackles raised as his eyes narrowed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:57 pm
Oddly enough.. Safir'ena, didn't look at all harmed, by his harsh tone. "Well," she began, her tones soft and quiet, like a light melody played by an Ocarina. "I had seen you hunting, just a moment ago, and was quite,.. Impressed. I thought, perhaps I'd watch your hunt, before I let myself fall back to sleep, until nightfall." she said with a slight nod, tilting her head down alittle after her nod, looking up at him calmly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:02 pm
Mashaka stared, eyes widened, and his upper lip curled: a surprised sneer. He didn't know what to think of this girl. She was certainly hard to offput. He laughed a little, but it was an unamused, humorless laugh. "Impressed!?" he cried. "I lost the prey, and I exhausted myself." He shook his head and reiterated under his breath, "Impresst... tch..."
Looking back at her, he frowned and wrinkled his nose. "Heh... well, you can watch if you want, but there's no more prey left here, and it'll be at least an hour before I regain the energy to sprint again anyway. It won't be terribly interesting." He sighed. He was so angry with himself. How could he let the catch go? He was so hungry, and prey was so hard to find in the winter. That's about when he became aware of how sore his hind right flank was. He must've pulled something in the sprint. "Damn," he grunted to himself, then flopped down onto his belly on the ground, to rest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 4:34 am
"Though ,this may sound odd, Stupid really, When I was watching you, I wasn't bothered by if you caught your food or not, just, your movments and such. "Sometimes I wonder, what it'd be like, to be a Cheetah, rather than a lioness." Safir'ena said, her tone as soft and cool as ever.
She lowered herself back onto her paws,.. her eyes wandering over to his leg for a moment after hearing the muttered curse. Had he hurt himself? Apparently so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:28 am
If only out of force of habit, Mashaka's first impulse was to ask her Would you like to see what it's like to be with a cheetah? But no. He was certainly not in the mood for any play today... nor the physical condition. So he shook it off and instead grumbled and said, "Well you know what? I was pretty concerned with whether I caught my food or not. I haven't eaten in days! I only have so much energy left in my body to expend, and a sprint sucks a lot out of a cheetah." It was true. Even this short rant left Mashaka feeling a little restless. He sighed and dropped his head down onto his forelegs, resting. If he had any energy at all, he'd probably pick himself up and go, take off and leave the girl behind. He was quickly having his fill of her curiosity and her questions.
His sore thigh muscle throbbed and, snarling, he shuffled about and changed his position until he could comfortably outstretch the damaged leg and let it rest. He hoped it stopped hurting before he regained his energy so that he could get back to hunting. He would be damned if he let himself starve to death out here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:06 pm
Safir watched him for a moment, thinking. "If you'd like.. I could, go hunting for the both of us.. If you're too weak to hunt on your own. It'd be much better to be fed and weak, than be starving of hunger and weak." she said, smiling as she did before, stepping just slightly closer to him, trying to inspect his back leg slightly. She was no Shaman.. she knew this...
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:08 am
Mashaka could do nothing but scowl at the lioness' kind offer. Hunt for him? Hunt for him? How dare she? He snarled, teeth bared, and said, "Hey, I don't need your help, okay lady? I can do just fine on my own. I don't need anybody's help, so why don't you just back off!?" His chest heaved with anger as he finished speaking. How could she offer to hunt for him? What did she think he was, a cub?
As she got closer, Mashaka shuffled defiantly away, kicking his legs out to propel himself back. One false move by the injured leg sent a sharp pain shooting all the way up through his body. He yelped loudly and hissed through his teeth, muttering a few obscenities as he once again carefully laid out the leg to rest. Damn. He really had screwed up the leg, hadn't he? He probably wouldn't be able to get on it for a couple days...
He looked up at Safir, darkly. Well here she was, his only option, his only choice. With a great sigh of regret, Mashaka falteringly said, "You know what... okay. Hunt for us if you want." He felt himself cringe as he said it. He hated taking favors from anyone, especially from a girl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 1:38 pm
Like before, she didn't seem a tad bit affected by the harsh tone of the male, taking it as nothing.
A smile formed strong on her maw as he finaly said that she could hunt for the two. "Alright then. Just give me a moment..." she said, turning her head at first, spotting the same Gazelle not too far away. She lowered herself to the ground for a moment, before breaking out into a run, something usually not seen from Safir'ena.. the soft, docile little Rogue.
She dodged behind a large boulder, watching the gazelle. She needed a larger one,... she knew this... but not only would her size make this difficult, but her speed. It's true, she was actually faster than most female lionesses, but that was only because she had less weight to carry. But she also wasn't as strong, to be able to tackle a Gazelle to the ground.
Soon, her pale eyes found there way to what appeared to be a Pregnant female, towords the back of the herd. It was lagging qute abit, and appeared to be in great pain, as it was probably close to giving birth.
Safir'ena, inside, hated to do this,.. she hated hunting... Hated it, hated killing all together,... but she had no choice. She knelt down, letting her joins lock into place, and her muscles take a quick rest. Within seconds she was off again, running, as fast as she could, building up the strength in her legs in the process.
Soon, she let her body take over, and she felt herself launching off the ground, tacking the fairly slowly moving female back to the ground, her teeth ramming into it's jugular, one of her back paws on the gazelle's stomach, and one of the front ones, drilling it's claws into the female's neck. She waited, feeling with her paw the pulse of the Gazelle. When the pulse no longer beat, Safir'ena moved away. She prodded the now dead animal slightly, with a soft, cute look on her face, her eyes full of sorrow for the animal she had just had to kill to live. She sighed lightly, licking her maw clean of blood, before lifting the Gazelle up, dragging it back to the male.
It hadn't taken too long for her to get back to Mashaka, and for him to drop her prize infront of the two. "I hope this will do good to fill the two of us." she nodded with a smile, taking a step back and bowing her head slightly. "You may eat first... you will need the extra energy from the food to help you, and perhaps it will help you heal better." she said, glancing at his leg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:10 pm
Mashaka had a very distinct series of reactions when Safir laid the kill out in front of him, and this is how they went:
His automatic reaction on first sight off the kill was jealousy and spite. Not only had she gotten the kill more easily and skillfully than he could've managed... but she got a bigger kill too. He was bitter. Some deep part of him felt like she must be showing off and rubbing it in, but he knew this wasn't true; goody-two-shoes didn't do that. Still, he felt he must be cursed or something to be showed up so well by a girl.
But then he noticed why the kill was so much bigger, and he stared in awe at the distended belly. He stared a few moments, then turned his wide magenta eyes on the lioness. "You... killed a pregnant female?" he wondered aloud. For a few moments, he was silent again... and then he laughed, hard and shrill. He continued to laugh for several minutes, laughed even as he spoke. "Oh my God! Hoo boy! That's cold. That's cold, lady. Even for me. I'd probably just try to take down one of the old ones. But a pregnant female... close to birth, too! Great job. Great, great job." If he could have gotten up on his hind legs and clapped his front paws for her, he would have. He genuinely was darkly and cynically amused by this.
His final reaction to the kill was the realization of how hungry he was, and how he didn't have to be hungry anymore. He didn't even wait for her invitation to eat first. He just dug right in, messily, specks of blood flying everywhere and dotting his face and his snowy white mane. He ate like he was starving... and he kind of was. Strips of meat were torn from the flanks and gobbled down with delight.
Not once did it occur to him to thank her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:06 pm
"I'm not sure where the feeling comes from, but I know in my mind, that she, nor the babe, would live,... most likely, because this mother,.. is old. It's easy to tell just by looking at her." Safir'ena sighed lightly, shaking her head slightly, her eyes so soft, looking as if they where ready to shed some tears.
She swallowed, looking down at the cheetah eat. She didn't expect a thankyou... not at all. Her mind told her not to expect it one bit. Instead, she was thinking back to her feelings earlier. She wasn't sure where they came from.. probably just a vibe, or her mind playing tricks on her,... That, or she was very good at being able to pick out the ones that haven't much longer to live.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:31 pm
Mashaka couldn't help but snort and giggle as Safir justified her kill to him. He shook his head and dug into the side of the animal, ripping out some meat and spitting out fur. "Hey, yeah, sure," he said through his full mouth. "Whatever you have to tell yourself to live with yourself, lady." Still chuckling, he swallowed down his mouthful and went on eating. Honestly, he didn't really care if the gazelle was pregnant or if it was about to die or not. All he cared about was that he was finally getting to eat for the first time in days, and for that he was... what was the feeling? Greatful? Oh well.
He heard a throaty little noise as he ate, and he knew it wasn't his own. Curious, he looked up at the lioness and cocked a brow. She seemed upset, distraught. He groaned. "Oh God..." For the time being, he took a break from gorging himself to sit up and give the girl a lecture. She had to learn. "Listen," he instructed her, "You can't let yourself get all emotional every time you make a kill. It's not a big deal. Look at it this way: it's either kill or die, and you have your choice between the two. You can hunt and you can eat, or you can take pity on the poor, helpless little creatures and lie down and die. Your choice, but you can't get all pouty every time you go hunting. Alright?" He hoped he had gotten some sense through her thick skull, then sighed and dug back into his lunch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:29 pm
Safir'ena raised her gaze, looking up at the Cheetah. "You may feel that way, Red one,... But death to anyone, any thing, is something that is a great pain to my heart and soul, as I know that it will fall as a great loss to others around." she said. Even if her words were strong, her tone was still soft and delicate, yet now, they held a stronger meaning, a force, behind them, that they didn't before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:41 pm
Mashaka froze at Safir'ena's words, rising from the kill, blood dripping from his lips. What she said accessed some very deeply buried things in the very back of his mind, some of the darkest places in his heart. Something about what she said struck a chord with him, seemed familiar to him, seemed to mean something, and he tried to and tried not to remember all at once. He saw flashes of something in his psyche, images gone by too fast to stick in his memory or to register with him, but they troubled him deeply.
He became quickly and intensely distraught, and he resultingly became very angry with her. He was angry she would rend his very soul this way, no matter how soft and gentle the voice.
"Well, you're an idiot," he snarled pulling back, his wine eyes gone dark and narrow. "You think that letting your heart break every time you feed yourself makes you an f'ing saint. Well let me tell you something... it doesn't. The way you feel about it doesn't change what it is. A kill is a kill no matter how you look at it." He stalked circles around her, observing her, looking her up and down. "You're probably one of them girls who thinks love'll solve everything, who thinks everything will work out just right for her if she cares. Well let me break something else to you, honey. Life sucks and then you die." Here he stopped and spat spitefully on the ground before moving back to the kill, though he wasn't even hungry anymore. He just glared at it. "Hell, you probably did this thing a favor by ending it's life," he muttered, then snorted and kicked the corpse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
