"How dare you!" the leopardess snapped. Peach-colored eyes narrowed at the accusation this... this fleabag of a merchant threw at her. Her ears flattened against her skull; she'd never been so insulted in all her life!
"Well?" the burly male asked after a moment of silence.
"Well what?!"
"Where did you get these pelts?"
The very question made Neferu burn up with anger. She stood up on all fours, pacing back and forth as though she had been caged. The scene they were causing was beginning to attract attention from both pride member and outsider.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'hunting', before?" she spat, before giving a smug grin. "I know you're usually so busy sitting on your backside all day that you can't begin to see the snow piling up on it..."
That caused the merchant to slap a paw down on the pelts, growling.
"Whereas you are so busy stealing others' pelts that they never reap the rewards! Don't think I don't have ways of finding out!"
Neferu's eyes widened in surprise, and she stopped pacing.
"S-steal?" she parroted, blinking a few times. But she wasn't... how did he even know?! "Wait a minute, you've got it all wrong! He stole from me, first!"
The merchant raised an eyebrow incredulously. "He?"
"The lion who stole my kills!"
Both eyebrows shot up. The male Mlima couldn't believe his ears. He looked stunned, then disbelieving, then finally crestfallen.
"I didn't think the rumors were true... I mean, our queen always said they were murderers and all, but..."
Neferu sat back on her haunches and lifted a paw, waving it around.
"And she's absolutely right! It seems like nobody these days can be trusted! Nobody except your own flesh and blood, am I right?" She flashed a trusty grin, eyes half-lidded and eyebrows raised. The same face a used car salesman would use to seal a deal. The merchant couldn't help but be swayed by both her words and her rather nice smile.
"Well... maybe. They are fine pelts," he admitted as he eyed the stack of them. The first one was pretty skimpy, but Neferu explained that that was "just a warmup". The jackal pelt was of decent quality, but the real beauty was that hyena pelt. It looked as though it had been washed clean of any dirt and blood, and had almost no tears or holes in it. When he admired the work, Neferu couldn't help but raise her head high, wiggling it as she bathed in his praise.
That evening, Neferu and a few other leopard outsiders were invited to a feast provided by the Mlima Tuokoa. She recalled her tale of fighting the large striped hyena. The members were wide-eyed as she described the beast; most had never seen a striped one before, and the pelt was passed around the circle for all to admire. With a full belly and her head buzzing with their words of admiration, the leopardess slept soundly. Not a bad day.
Meanwhile, a rather angry lion was pulling himself out of a large crevasse, muttering and cursing about a thieving leopard.
Numbers:
4: A large, luxurious pelt from a hyena. Worth 3 points.
2: A fair quality jackal pelt. Worth 2 points.
5: Small, torn and barely useable. Worth 1 point.
Total Points: 6 emotion_dealwithit
WC: 624
