Safi wasn’t quite sure what had happened along the way, but somehow his flinging experiences had ended completely different than most males. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure how to take it. Most males dallied with a female, left, and never knew of his cubs until some adult child happened upon him. It was becoming apparent to Safi that this was not the norm for him. Beyond two of his offspring, he had been raising them all as a single father, and despite his families assistance, it was getting to be an issue.Currently he had his little Laini, a single cub of her litter, and most recently another solitary daughter whose mother had passed on. Of course Laini was thrilled; she was daddy’s little helper and watched over her tiny sister while he hunted. At least he had that going for him; the only one of his children that had grown to be sassy had been Cari, and that was only in the way of her open hatred for purebreds.
Leaving his two little ones in a little temporary den, Safi found himself chasing antelope into the later hours of the night with little to no success. He was tired, exhausted, and mentally spent. If he didn’t have his daughters he would have just called it quits for the night. Gods blood, why are they so fast?!
Prowling through the roguelands was easy for Mihika. By now the older leopardess felt as if she could hunt with her eyes closed. Still the rustle of the tall grasses and the smell of nearby prey was rather relaxing. It was no surprise then when it came to hunting duties for her family that Mihika was the first to volunteer. She would much rather hunt so she could have time to think to herself than be busied with the rustle of family life.
And then there was another part of hunting that Mihika enjoyed...
Scenting another feline made her gaze gleam with interest. Would it be some hassle or something fun and interesting this time? Already the leopardess was sad to have sent off an old friend, but meeting a new stranger could prove worthwhile. As long as its not another psycho lion... Smirking she started to sneak through the grasses so she could get a closer look at the other hunter.
Safi was in the process of running down a baby when its mother decided to intervene. At the time he had thought he had it made. The little one was slower than the rest, barely past infancy, and had been lagging behind. Most prey beasts would leave their child to die in the thick of an attack. Most. It had been his luck that this mother felt particularly protective. When he sank his claws into her child she kicked him in the ribs.
The hit was enough to cause him to back off, and while her child ran she stood as defense. I’ve had it up to here with bitches, lady, and if you want to fight me be my guest. He needed meat, but the precocious leopon wasn’t picky on where it came from.
Aw, the poor guy. Mihika shook her head at the leopon from the shadows. It was obvious that the mother antelope wasn't going to give up on her child anytime soon. Slipping through the grasses the leopard came up behind the leopon, "Just let them go. If you want prey I can help you find some." The last thing she wanted to do was kill the protective mother...as silly as it might have seemed to others the moment touched her heart. I guess I am getting old.
"They'll circle around to the other side of that rocky area." Mihika stated lightly, "A good area for grass is that way and they usually lower their guards since the rocks block a lot. If you know the way around though it's easy to get to since not all of them can escape easily."
Safi wasn’t surprised to see a leopardess seemingly appear beside him. If anything, he would have been more surprised to actually see her from afar and gradually approaching. There were just too many females in his life that lived in shadows for him to see it as exciting. Still, her offer of help was refreshing enough. He loosened his stance, turning his eye so the female antelope would get the hint, and soon enough she took off after her herd.
“I suppose you know the way, then?” Safi quipped. His tone came off sassy, and he realized it all too soon. Sighing, the leopon shook his head. “Sorry, I- yeah, just…sorry. It’s been a long day. If you wouldn’t mind showing me the way I would be grateful.”
Mihika raised an eyebrow in slight amusement at the sass, "I can tell." Smirking the leopardess turned and flicked her tail behind her, "Of course." Seeing how important the hunt was to the leopon Mihika chose to behave herself. Walking down through the grasses she finally crouched to crawl quietly through some tight brush, “Just keep quiet and try not to rustle so much."
Wiggling through herself she began to descent down a rocky slope. It was hard not to stir rocks, but after months of practice the leopardess could easily slip around the larger rocks and hide in the crevices. Fortunately the wind was on their side and blowing the scent of prey towards them rather than away.
Following her advice, Safi kept quiet as he slipped through the tight brush after the female. It was one of the rare instances that he was glad that he could not match the sheer size of his father and son. His smaller, sleeker form made it almost easy for him to slip around the rocks.
Safi found himself stuck in a crag only once, but on the whole he kept good pace behind her. After spotting a perch of his own, Safi maneuvered himself, stirring only a few stones, so that he could better see their prey. He then turned his orchid gaze to the leopardess, waiting for her to make the first move.
Smiling at the leopon who had kept up with her Mihika motioned with a paw towards the valley. There were several fine bucks that she noted around the group and a few elderly. Her enjoyment though was with the quicker prey...elderly and sick made things too easy. But still she hesitated. Would it be better to go for an easier prey? Then again there were two of them...
"Only one way out." She commented quietly, "The other was out are too complicatedor further away. I'll chase them off towards the right so you should cut that one off there." It was a younger buck, not too old to stomp all over them, but not too young for Mihika to feel bad.
Jumping from her perch the leopardess was off.
Oh, so now they were onto paw signals? Safi resisted the urge to snort. His son would have had a field day with this. To him there was the obvious prey, the elderly and the young, which he was perfectly content in bringing down. Though, Safi doubted she would feel the same way.
"Thanks for the heads up," He grumbled and moved to play his part. There was little he could do to add input since she was already off, so Safi focused on trapping the buck. As he waited he heard the noise of rustling hooves, then felt the vibrations in the ground as a few came his way.
Hold...hold..hold...there!
As soon as the buck was in sight he leapt out from his hiding spot and tackled it to the ground, using his weight to hold the buck as he bit through it's spinal cord. When he looked up he had blood on his maw and most of the herd had fled.
Calling out in her general direction, Safi asked, "Did you want some of this?" He didn't mean to sound selfish, but she seemed the type more to hunt for sport than a real need.
Mihika felt relieved as she saw the leopon hunt down the prey. That's good. For some reason she had felt really worried about him and seeing that he at least would have food now made her relax. He truly was fortunate though that she had run into him. She worried he might have just been running the whole night without rest then.
At his question the leoardesss shook her head, "No it's quite alright. Take it for yourself I'm sure you have more need than me." Plus she could always hunt down her own prey later...surely though the family had already hunted and there would be a meal home waiting. If not then she would quickly remedy that.
Speaking of her family....
"As pleasant as it is I have to hurry away myself." Mihika smiled as she brushed past Safi to jump onto the rocks, "Best of luck to you though...and if you ever find yourself in need again I'll be around this area. Just keep an eye out, okay?" The leopardess purred. It was always nice having a hunting buddy after all. For now though she had to make sure that her own family was taken care of...if not then it looked like it would be another round of hunting for her tonight.
Either way she was glad that she had managed to help this one out and wished the best to him.