[Prv] Where Do We Go From Here? (Kiivas'lintu x Ozareus)

[Rainhowl]

Things were not going well at all. They had a celebration, one she had wholeheartedly participated in... But that celebration was consumed in fire. They evacuated. Some were left behind, others went back to fetch them, and the young huntress was afraid. The usually quirky, playful lioness was anxious and found it difficult to eat. She did her best to watch over the young, sheltering and providing for them while they had no place to bed at night. The swamp was in flames.

She couldn't help but to think about it as she prowled the lands surrounding the swamps, the lands where they were taking refuge - the very lands she hadn't visited since she had gone on her quest. The breeze ruffled her brown and white fur as she stood still, ears pivoted forward and nose testing the air as she searched for something, anything to eat. Many creatures had fled the flames and smoke. She couldn't blame them, but it made her task difficult. She hopped down off the jutting rock on which she was perched, sending up a cloud of loose dirt in the process, and moved forwards slowly. She had seen something moving in the distance, but it was too far off for her to make out what. She couldn't catch a scent and did her best to move downwind, circling to the right slowly, her naturally hued body blending well with the thick grasses. Her tufted tail twitched and she lowered her body to the earth. This was not a hunt she could mess up. If she returned to her fellows without a bite to eat, she would never live down the shame she felt she would bring on her entire family.  

[Buffy_the_Bloody]

Aurrie Beaues

Unbeknownst to him, someone was hunting the same area that he was hunting in. He had been lucky, and a small herd of gazelle had been running out of a stray area of the swamplands he had just found. Fire didn't scare him too badly. He didn't have anything to lose there, and that made the flames more tolerable. The gazelle had run desperately, their fear of the flames so great they had forgotten of the predators. He had brought down a large one on his own, and he had just considered himself lucky.

His jaws tightened on the throat of the gazelle, and he waited patiently as it stopped twitching. His jaws tightening with ever breath he took. Slowly taking the life of the creature. Withdrawing his bite once the gazelle had passed, he spoke softly.

"Thank you for your sacrifice, brother." He was a good soul, and killing wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. But he did enjoy surviving, and thus, he did what he had to. He was a strange one, he enjoyed the hunt. The chase was a great rush that he really enjoyed. But the kill at the end? Well he only did that when he had to.  

[Rainhowl]

Her sense of smell was cloyed due to the smoke that seemed to cling to every bit of land she touched. She pressed on, however, picking her way through the dense grass. When she came near enough to the figure, she could see that it was not food, but a lion. He was tall, his colour natural and rather lovely, despite being simple. What he had, however, was what she wanted. Gazelle... No doubt they had all scattered and she'd have difficulty finding another bite to eat. To say that she was unhappy was an understatement and uncharacteristic frustration welled up inside her being.

"You've ruined it!" Whatever she had intended to do, her feelings and her voice betrayed her. What would have come out as threatening, an attempt to hopefully frighten the male off, came out as a halfhearted whine. There was no reason to hide - that wouldn't do her any good. Instead, the white and brown lioness stood, abandoning the cover the brush provided. A frown tugged at her lips and her brow furrowed as she sized the male up. Maybe she could chase him off, but she wasn't sure she really had the heart to do it. She was a sweet lioness, though she took feeding and protecting her pride very seriously.  

[Buffy_the_Bloody]

Aurrie Beaues

He lifted his head when he heard her speak, and turned his eyes towards her. Licking his lips to rid them of the blood that was coating them. Not that it did much good. His eyes were wide in surprise. Well that hadn't been what he expected. And he wasn't quite sure what it had been he ruined.

"I'm sorry?" He said, and then looked around to see if it was indeed him that she was talking to. Frowning when he saw that there was no one else he turned his head back to her.

"What did I do?" He asked genuinely.  

[Rainhowl]

Buffy_the_Bloody

Kiivas'lintu was a tough lioness. She was a scrapper, the sort to keep a stiff upper lip and to challenge adversity and press onwards. At this particular point, however, Ozareus had caught the young lioness at her weakest. The loss of her home, the possible death of pridemates... And now she couldn't even bring down something to eat, cos they all would have scattered the area by now, what with knowing there was a predator about - or at least that's what she figured they would do at this point, anyway. She frowned gravely. Was he really that dense? The fire was obvious, surely there was still a bit of soot smudged on her coat from their narrow escape, though it probably blended well with her natural colouring. All of her bottled emotions converged at this one point and if lions had tear ducts, she'd probably break down and cry.

"Now I won't be able to find anything to take back to the others, cos they've probably all run off by now. The gazelle..." The lioness plopped down on her haunches, jutting her chin in what she hoped looked like a defiant challenge or something, but in all reality, she probably only looked desperate. She knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but she simply couldn't help herself.  

[Buffy_the_Bloody]

Aurrie Beaues

He had not missed the fire, he would have been absolutely daft to have missed that. But he didn't understand what fire would have done for him to ruin. He had merely been in the right place at the right time. He gulped when he looked her over. He didn't know where she was from, but she was dirty. And he recognized the dirt on her pelt as soot. She had been closer to the fire than he would particularly like to ever be.

He looked at the gazelle she had mentioned, and his eyes widened a bit. He hadn't meant to ruin anyone's hunt. He hadn't smelled anyone around, though he'd admit that it was hard to smell with the smoke that burned his nostrils and lungs if he breathed in too deeply.

"I.. I'm sorry. I didn't know. But I can share.." He said, looking down at the gazelle in front of him. It was a decent sized gazelle, one he might not have been able to bring down on his own had it not been terrified of the fire.  

[Rainhowl]

He was a nice fellow, that thought had passed through her mind, but she was too frustrated and all of those pent up feelings over the burning swamp that she had not and felt she could not express to her own pridemates - the horror of that thought, caused her to act far differently than she normally would. He seemed to regret what he had done, but he had done no real wrong, despite her accusations. She plopped down on her rump and looked over the fallen gazelle. She was hungry, but she wasn't. She felt almost ill, to be honest, but she'd not actually eaten in a while, dragging what tidbits of meat she could find back for the younger pride members.

"Thanks..." She gave a little hiccup as she tried to organize her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry, it's not your fault."