The night had just set upon the land as Savi found herself staring out at a large pile of rubble. It was as if the land here had fallen apart by some great force, and perhaps that was exactly what had happened. Movement could be seen within the mess, forms dragging themselves about. Some slowly, and some quicker as they darted between masses of rubble. While faint the smell of death caught Savi's nose and her eyes narrowed as she stared harder at the place. While she did not think she could take on any great force the hunger in her belly was egging her forward to see what food there might possibly be lying around. If she was lucky maybe she could find something and get away with it before being seen.
The night had always been kind to Alnilam save for the one night that would forever be engraved into her mind. Her dark pelt offered good camouflage in the darkness and the light specks offered reverence to their goddesses and the darkness that kept them safe. Her nose lifted into the air, smelling a scent she had not encountered before. It was for foreign and did not resemble any she knew. With her tail lifted the canine followed the scent, her teeth clenched. An encounter with another pack or a rival looking to overthrow her was not something she wanted, not so soon after the disaster. The Baraza, the rulers, were in a disarray. She was the only one, the others were missing still, but assumed dead by now. She alone could likely not rally the pack to defend itself and Alnilam could only wonder if offered a change, if the pack would take it.
As Savi Tassut came closer she saw further the extend of the disaster that had struck this place. The closer she came the bigger the rock got, and who knew what lay beneath them. She also came to find that the masses she had seen running around before were wild dogs. Savi made her way behind a rock that had rolled further out than some and stood behind it. She was not completely hidden, but doubted that most there would even notice with how frantically some scurried about. The scent she had caught before, the one of death, was likely from bodies that had been caught in this fall of earth. By the looks of it this was a pack’s territory, and just her luck that any dead she would likely find would be that of wild dogs.. While she certainly had a preference towards other meat, if pushed to it she would eat what she could find, however she was unsure if she wanted to risk stealing away the fallen body of a wild dog out of it’s own territory, especially with some many around. The brown hyena crouched slightly behind the rock, opting to wait for a bit and see what happened. If she could manage it she would take a body, if not then she may have wasted a little time, but another meal would come eventually.
The scent was close.
Alnilam knew that as hew paws stepped over and around the rubble that littered her pack lands. With her canines exposed and her tail never lowering, only to have it bristle, she continued on. Her Colossus were useless right now as they were trying to keep other predators away while they rebuilt so this intruder was up to her. The only thing she could hope for was that it was not a lion, nor a god as at least two were known to come into their lands. "Show yourself coward!" She finally called out, dark eyes scanning her surroundings.
The call caught Savi by surprise, though one would not have thought so by her stilled expression. She had been so caught up watching the wild dogs moving about trying to go about whatever business they were up to that she had failed to notice one coming her way, though that was not all that surprising as she looked over the rock. There it stood, the colour of the night sky. This wild dog called her out, called her a coward. While Savi was not a short-tempered lady by nature she also would never consider herself a coward. With a small huff she stood upright and stepped out from her hiding spot. “I have shown myself.” She replied, her tone calm. Though her appearance showed one of calm her mind was racing, going over possible escape plans should this wild dog call on more of the pack, or what to do should it attack. She might not run from a one-on-one fight, but she was no fool to go against a whole pack of dogs.
A low, quiet snarl came from Alnilam's maw at the sight of what exactly was in her pack lands. A hyena. She had nothing against them, but this one was an uninvited guest in the Nyota-Wasomaji and that much she would not tolerate. "What brings you to my lands?" The female wild dog asked, keeping her distance. Though the hyena had the advantage with size, she did have her pack to back her should she need to call to them. They had already had to fight off vultures, lions, and leopards wanting to make a meal of their dead, so it was really no surprise that Alnilam was on such an edge with another intruder.
Brown eyes moved from the starry dog to the pack behind her. Though it appeared that so far no other’s had noticed Savi’s presence she knew that it would likely not take them long to get to her should this female decide to call the rest to her aid. “I was simply passing by when I caught the scent of..” Her gaze shifted once again to the scene behind the female wild dog. “well, I had naturally come to investigate. Surely you can’t blame my curiosity with hunger biting at my insides.” She finished, watching the female closely, muscles twitching below her fur as she waited, ready to fight or flee should she need to.
"So you thought you may make a meal of my dead?" Alnilam retorted, her eyes never letting up their stare at the hyena. "I cannot blame you for curiosity, but I suggest you leave before my pack begins to think differently and decides that their hunger gets the better of them." Normally the female would never have been so rash but with everything happening so far, her nerves were gone as was her patience.
“Exactly.” Savi replied to the females question, even if it was likely not asked to be answered. However the female wild dog continued and a threat followed. The female hyena stood her ground for a short time, watching the wild dog. She did not believe this to be an idle threat. It was highly likely that she was not the first to come looking to scavenge. After a few moments of her silence Savi finally spoke, sighing deeply before. “Alright. I suppose there is no meal for me here.” The hyena turned and started to walk off, calling back over her shoulder once she was far enough away to give her a very good head start should her next comment anger the wild dog. “Really is too bad though. Such a waste of good meat.”
And that was the last straw for the starry wild dog. There was no way she would let a hyena of all things get away with basically insulting the fallen dead, of which included her father. With a loud snarl she made her way after the intruder, making no intention of letting it go without paying for those words.
