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 Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:38 pm
So far the hare had found two decent hide-aways, both convenient and well hidden- perfect if something were to happen and a hare needed a place to go. The only disadvantage was how far apart they were, and how far from home they were. Ever the worrier, Cheshi was determined to find somewhere in between- just in case. She had decided to take this look around in the afternoon, finding herself at no advantage to trying to do so at night with fur as bright as hers.
Always attentive, the hare hopped warily through the grass, following no particular path and stopping occasionally to get a better look around.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:45 pm
 The food in the savannah certainly suited Jiza better than the fod back in that beachside paradise, for more often than not she found herself feeling full. That hadn't happened too much at the beach. She hadn't liked the food there much, and she had never eaten too much of it in one sitting. Now, she was full and she had always found some amount of entertainment in lying in the sun, half asleep and watching the world pass her by.
Which is what she chose to do now. The green lioness dropped herself into a small clearing in the vast expanse of savannah grasses, eyes half closed in the sunlight as she watched the world progress. It could leave her far behind for all she cared.
Then...
A hare. Jiza's eyes opened and her ears pricked. Yes, it was definitely a hare she smelled. For a moment she considered chasing it, but then another thought struck her. What if she were to talk to it?
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:55 pm
Cheshi was busily nosing her way through some long grass, pushing some aside and occasionally glancing back to see how much of a trail she was leaving behind her. This area looked perfect for what she was searching for, and so she was momentarily distracted from any impending potential-threats as she ploughed around carefully, looking for any change in the grass. Despite her unfailing desire to remain safe and alert, Cheshi was not immune to distraction.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:05 pm
She didn't quite know how to begin. Talk to hares? That was a first - for her, at least. She didn't know much about them, only that they were fast and they ran for apparently no reason all the time. She had seen that happen as a cub. She had played on her own quite often and many times she would see a hard flash by, pursued by none but still running as if their lives depended on it. In a way, it had been funny for her as a cub.
Not wanting to rise, lest she scared the little creature, she watched it rove on through the grass a moment longer. "Uh... Hello?" She said finally, hoping her voice would not scare the hare away. It was a white one, she realized. Very pretty, white fur. Perhaps it was an albino? She couldn't quite see it well through the weave of the grass.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:04 pm
Cheshi realized her grave error at the first vocal sound that reached her long ears from the relaxing lioness. It didn't sound menacing, it didn't sound hungry, it didn't make sense for a hunter to be announcing itself to its prey, but none of that went through the hares mind. She froze and stiffled a whimper- caught in the act of finding a safe haven for just such a situation.
Warily, she turned and blinked a wide, pink eye at the lounging lioness. Any creature could startle her by announcing itself when she wasn't already aware it was there, but certainly something so large and potentially harmful made things worse. She didn't move, just stared with one unblinking eye.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:14 pm
Oh dear, she had petrified the hare. Or at least, that was what it seemed like. Jiza blinked her eyes wide as the hare suddenly froze - just simply stopped... moving - and felt a small feeling of guilt rising up. Oh, why scare the hare? She had no idea that they were so sensitive to noise.
She cleared her throat, smiling slightly. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything," She said truthfully, although some small part of her doubted the hare would believe her. "I just wanted to talk." Or something to that effect. When she thought about it, it was really rather strange. A lion initiating a chat with a hare? That was a first, yes, definitely.
She watched the beady-eyed little creature, wondering if she would receive some form of response.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:38 pm
A first, perhaps, for the green lioness but the wasn't the first time a lioness had spoken to Cheshi. It wasn't even the first in a long time, she'd met Memetuka just a short week or more ago! She was instantly caught between the barely controllable urge to run for her life and actually talking to the lioness. She wasn't in any threatening position, and she didn't look hungry. She even smelled like she wasn't hungry, like she'd eaten recently, which made Cheshi stomach turn. She would not trust what the lioness said, but as long as she was laying down and the hare was standing, Cheshi felt she had some small advantage if a chase were to happen.
"W-wh-what?" she stammered almost curiously.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:44 pm
Jiza shrugged. "Just talk." She said again. She hadn't chased hare since she had been a tiny little thing, when the hares had outrun her every single time. And she didn't intend on trying again. There was no point in chasing hares, they were too fast. And especially, there was little point in chasing this one when she had just eaten and didn't quite feel like moving around. Ah yes, it was that time of day.
"I just wanted to know what hares think," She said after a moment. "And what they do when they sniff around." She added, hoping it didn't make her sound like she was doing it for the benefit of the chase. Knowing what hares thought wouldn't make catching them any easier, would it?
"If you want I can tell you what lions do..." She offered, although some part of her wondered whether it was at all likely that the hare would want to know.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:50 pm
Cheshi couldn't hide a suspicious look when the lioness wanted to know what hares thought, her immediate and paranoid reaction being just what Jiza hoped it would not come off as. A deeper look into the psyche of the prey might make it easier to catch! Easier to predict it's actions, easier to locate in general. Oh no- she wasn't going to get away with that. The scent about the lioness didn't smell like hare, but Cheshi wasn't certain for she had no experience.
The offer to explain the minds of lions, however, received a much less suspicious look. Trick or not, it was an interesting concept. For, just as knowing what a hare thought could help a lion, knowing what a lion do might just help a hare!
"Y-you first," she squeaked quietly, though she finally hopped a couple steps closer- both eyes on Jiza, though her ears were tilted away to listen for any ambush.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:59 pm
She was mildly surprised when the hare decided to listen. Oh, goody! She could tell that the hare had received her words just as she had hoped she wouldn't. But that was okay. It meant that the hare had taken her offer because she had wanted to know what lions thought for her own safety. That was find with Jiza. She had always liked hares. They were too cute to be eaten, in her way of thinking.
"Well... What do you want to know?" She was open to revealing pretty much anything to the hare. There was nothing top secret about lions in general in the first place. Only facts that many other species did not know or understand. Well, she could explain those to the hare if need be, that was for sure.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:12 pm
Cheshi's ears twitched forward and then immediately back when asked what she wanted to know. The hare had never put a great deal of thought into what lions did, quite honestly she'd been harassed more often by smaller predators in her lifetime. It was how big and potentially harmful they were that made them so frightening, not to mention the horrifying tales about them in general as hunters. What information might she find use for?
"W-why-" she hesitated, trying to decide on the right words and wondering if there was a point asking, "W-why hunt? Why kill? Why us?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:35 pm
Jiza took a moment to think, to carefully pick the right words. It was hard to explain something like this. She had often wondered herself, too, about the very same question. Why kill? She had never come up with anything better than that it was what lions had been born to do. They didn't eat grass like hares did, they probably couldn't digest it. Maybe she would say that.
"Well, there's the obvious answer - lions were born to hunt. We eat meat, that's what we do. I don't believe we'd be able to digest grass if we were to try to eat it. Just like hares wouldn't be able to digest meat." She paused. Why them? That was true... why them? "And the thing is, mostly lions hunt large animals. Smaller prey, well... I think they're kind of like backup. If there's a shortage of meat then we'd go for smaller prey. Of course, hares and meerkats and such, they're harder to catch cause they're so much faster than we are."
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:43 pm
The answer Cheshi received was not entirely unexpected. Something about it being all they could do, something about grass being as unattractive to lions as meat was to hares. It was unhappy to think that lions didn't have a choice, though if it was true it might ease her concerns a bit. If they had to do it, it wasn't entirely their fault.. right? When Jiza explained the use of small prey as a backup, Cheshi shuddered a bit. It wasn't a surprise answer either, for the hare had learned such things from experience. There was a very good reason she fear a lone lioness more than she might fear a whole pack of them. One small hare wouldn't feed a group, and Cheshi counted a great deal on that!
Of course, it never stopped her from being careful anyway.
"B-but- why?" her tone hinted at desperation. It wasn't fair that such a vicious need came with life for the lions, Cheshi was almost positive she could not live if it meant taking the lives of those like her. She couldn't imagine it, being a hare like she was.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:13 pm
"Well..." She grappled for something to tell the hare. Then something hit her. Something her mother had told her once, all too long ago. It was something about a circle, something about life and how everything fit together in a cycle. Jiza took a moment to remember. How long ago that had been! She had not thought about that day for many years, and now it was all coming back to her, right as rain. Although, disappointingly, the image of her mother remained blurred and unindentifyable.
"It all comes together in a cycle. Almost like a circle of how life progresses. See, lions we're at the top, and we hunt and feed on other animals. But when we die, we become part of the earth, we become the grass. And the animals... they eat the grass. So ultimately, it all fits together."
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:20 pm
Cheshi could see the trouble she caused in asking such a question, but saw no hint of anger over it. It was more vague and thoughtful, the expression Jiza wore as she struggled to draw fourth an explanation. For the moment that the green lioness explained the cycle, Cheshi was able to forget her paranoia and took a second simply to stare wonderingly at the grass.
Lions became a part of the earth for creatures like her to live off of? Did the other hunters? The serval that almost got her and Sunny, would he? What about the bird that took her mother? The hare looked rather conflicted at the idea, struggling to understand it. When she looked back up to Jiza, she was more relaxed than before. She was drawn up into a more natural standing position, her paws drawn close to her middle. She didn't know what she could reply to such an idea.
"W-what did you want to know?" she asked hesitantly, still somewhat wary of giving a lion the insight but certainly more at ease.
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