The wild dog crunched through the bones of her prey, satisfied at the sickening sound it made. The sounds of bones breaking were her favourite, as long as she was the one breaking bones, that is. She’d been in enough scuffles to know that a broken bone could be a death sentence to a rogue like her. Not that she minded rogue life. Others tended to slow her down or annoy her with their weakness. The savanna was no place for the weak. Shari had learned that lesson quickly. Never trust others. Only trust yourself. Which is why the sight of an approaching feline had her hackles standing straight on end.
Lume himself was not in the best mood. He’d been feeling confined, tied down as of late. His mother was never ceasing to be on his nerves, and now even his sister was starting to annoy him. He frequently had to run off to let off steam, and now he was doing it more and more. He was angry, and he didn’t even know what he was angry at. The wild dog, so obviously glaring and snarling at him even from this distance, was his target. Normally he preferred pissing off lions or leopards, as they tended to put up more of a fight, but Lume wasn’t feeling picky today. An easy win might do him some good. Lume continued his advance, even though he clearly was not wanted. “Havin a good snack, hm?”
Shari snarled, teeth bared. “Get lost, kitty cat. Find your own food.” Shari wasn’t the sharing type. Never was, never would be.
Lume grinned. An easy target indeed. “Aw, a bit grumpy, are we? Wake up on the wrong side of the den?”
“You won’t be waking up at all if you don’t beat it.” The canine was on her feet now, standing protectively over her kill. She wasn’t afraid of any cat. She’d taken only lions before, and had the scars to prove it. This pretty boy wasn’t a match for her.
The leotah snorted. “Oh, big threat from a tiny little puppy dog. C’mon, where’s your pack? Got separated from them, princess?”
Shari fell into an offensive crouch, ready to spring. “Call me princess again, and I’ll rip out your tongue.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lume tensed his muscles, ready for action. “Princess.” He said with a grin.
The wild dog charged with a snarl, leaping up for Lume’s face. The leotah side-stepped her easily, catching her flank with his claws. “You’ll have to do better than that, sweetie.” He taunted, tail lashing with excitement.
Shari growled and charged again. If this cat thought he was better than her, she would use that to her advantage and put him in his place. She wasn’t surprised when he dodged again. It was what Shari wanted him to do. She pivoted and repeated her attack. The dog wanted him to think he had it easy. So this time, when he made the move to step away from her leap, Shari quickly changed her direction, jumping straight into where the leotah was about to be.
Lume’s eyes went wide with surprise, and Shari knew she’d land her hit. Teeth dug into the feline’s throat, and Shari thrashed about, trying to tear his vital vein open. The leotah roared in pain, batting at the dog’s sides. His front paws gripped into Shari’s shoulders and he pulled, ripping her off of his neck.
Lume panted heavily. Alright, so he misjudged this wild dog. Time to step up his own game. He jumped and slashed, drawing blood on the wild dog’s face. When she lashed out to snap at one of his paws, Lume spun just as he would in a dance, and kicked out with his back feet, sending the dog sprawling to the ground. Not wanting to waste a second, he pounced, aiming for the dog’s throat.
But Shari rolled out of the way just in time, reaching up to bite the feline’s face and ear.
Lume hissed. Who knew someone so small could be so troublesome! He collapsed on top of his opponent, crushing her underneath his weight and dislodging her from his face. He rolled over her to get back onto his feet, and made the mistake of not immediately leaping away.
The wild dog took her opportunity with a growl, biting one of Lume’s legs and squeezing as hard as she could. She wanted to feel the bone crack beneath her teeth, to hear the scream of pain that would come from his lips. Instead, teeth dug into her scruff, and she found herself being pulled away. Unfazed, she snapped for the closest body part, tearing into the leotah’s shoulder. She was only able to hang on for the briefest of seconds before she was begin thrown through the air, but Shari made sure she took a chunk of skin with her.
He was limping now, one leg and shoulder bleeding and sore. Blood streamed out of the wound on his neck, and there was a blood running down his face. Not as easy as a win as he thought he’d get. Lume stalked over to where the wild dog was slowly getting to her paws, the impact with the ground having knocked her dizzy. Lume was going to shred this wild dog’s ears and send her running with her tail between her legs.
Shari’s eyes glanced back to where the leotah was approaching her from behind. She could play the part of injured loser. She wobbled a bit for show, and just as the cat raised his good leg for a swipe, Shari whipped around and barreled into him head-first, knocking him on his back. His throat was in her maw again, blood welling up into her mouth. This was it. She had the kill.
Lume gritted his teeth. The wild dog was dangerously close to cutting off his air. Bending his spine with the flexibility of cheetah blood, he reached his back legs up under the canine and kicked out as hard as he could, claws dragging through her sensitive stomach.
The dog yelped and was sent through the air once more. This time Lume didn’t wait for her to get back up. He scrambled over to grab her scruff again, shaking about wildly. With a growl of effort, he smashed the dog’s head back on the ground, knocking her out cold.
Breathing hard and losing blood, Lume turned around and limped back the way he came. He had won, but he’d suffered some serious injuries. He needed to get back to his family to get medical attention before he bled out and was left to the vultures. But despite the pain, Lume was smiling. It had been a good fight. This was what he was meant to do.
WC: 1136