Rumi had spotted Penden, but didn't know how to approach her. She had been in conversation with one of the guards, and Rumi didn't want to interrupt. It seemed that Penden fit in more with the guards than the hunters, but Rumi knew that it wasn't her place to ask just what kept her as 'only' a hunter. Perhaps it was to stand out, as much of the North began as guards, soldiers, or scouts, all career paths that took more work and training than hunting did. Still...
"Lián Bǎozuò?" Rumi asked carefully once the yellow lioness was alone. "I have a request to make of you..." She paused, waiting to see just what mood the lioness was in at the moment.
Penden turned around to face her visitor, not that surprised that it was Rumi. Busybody. "Yes? I don't have forever," the lioness asked, waving a paw around dismissively. She would really rather go hunting on her own, but she wasn't going to walk away from Rumi without saying anything.
"Well, I would like for you to go hunting for boar with me," she said carefully, keeping her eyes locked onto Penden's face. She was going to fight for this. If she couldn't get Penden to go hunting with her, she wasn't going to be able to go hunt for boar. Rumi wasn't up for failure right now.
"Really, Língchén? You think you can take down a boar?" Her eyes were hooded as she studied the lioness. She was still young, and her muscles were not quite defined yet. She had ambition, though would it be worth nearly babysitting her to succeed on this hunt? Penden wasn't quite sure yet.
"I can if I am not alone," she answered carefully. She didn't want to sound overly confident to someone who could see right through it. Penden had a curious history, and Rumi wondered that if she somehow befriended the female, she would learn more about her past. "This is why I ask for your help. You are older and more skilled, and I think I could learn from your experience. I also think that bringing home a boar would settle some of the murmurs about my hunting ambitions. I want to be a skilled hunter, and experience is the best teacher." Beyond you, Rumi thought, but she didn't verbalize it.
"Hmm. I suppose," Penden said, looking over at the guard station for a moment. This was going to be interesting, she thought to herself, as she listened to Rumi's sigh of relief. What a strange girl.
---
"Stay close to the ground," Penden ordered. They didn't speak too much, but she had to remind the younger lioness of a few things. Overall, Rumi wasn't bad, but hunting boar was not the same as bringing down goats. They were hard to flush out, and did their best to run back to their nests before anything happened to them. They had found a large male boar, thankfully unmated, roaming around openly before it caught their scent. For some reason, it only ducked under some foliage, and didn't completely run away nor sound the alarm. A stupid male, the yellow lioness thought. No wonder it was still without a mate.
Rumi's heart was pounding, and it was a miracle that no one but herself heard it. She was excited for the hunt, and felt her muscles tighten. The moment was soon. Rumi would be the flusher, as she didn't have as much skill in takedown as Penden. She shifted her weight a bit, her eyes darting from the stupid boar back to Penden. As soon as the lioness' head shifted down with the signal, Rumi shot out from her hiding place. With a roar, she leapt for the brush where the boar was hiding. A defiant squeal erupted from the massive leaves and grass, and the boar ran away from Rumi, right where it was supposed to go. Somehow, Rumi figured this might help the other boars that lived nearby; it was really just too stupid to do much good out here.
Rumi continued the chase as she watched Penden's swift, precise movements. She clawed at the shoulder as her body twisted mid-jump, landing on the back of the boar. It suddenly began to buck, trying to throw her off. Claws sinking further into the tough skin, Penden's teeth sunk into the back of the neck, blood oozing everywhere around them. Rumi drew close enough to help as the boar lost strength, her own jaws sinking into the back hip of the creature. She felt it flailing, but it only let her sink her jaws in further. Finally, the boar died.
Each lioness took a moment to unhook themselves from the boar. Rumi still felt her blood pumping, but she settled herself by grooming the worst of the blood off. She would better bathe herself later; for now, she wanted to get the worst off. Penden worked the same, though she was not as neat as Rumi. Once they were both more relaxed, then came the work of dragging the damn thing back to the House.
"This is the part no one likes," Penden said. "Oh well. You'll take the first round. Tell me when you're tired, and I'll haul it for a while." Penden was nosing around the boar, double checking that it was dead. The last thing they needed was for it to gore one of them while their defenses were down.
"Alright....wow. That was something else," Rumi said with a shake of her head. "I certainly learned a lot more watching you than if I had someone else with me." She didn't really mean to butter up Penden, but she couldn't help herself. It was pretty amazing.
"You did well, just make sure you lessen your twitches. You'll learn through experience. Come! Let's go, I don't want to spend all day out here." And with that, Penden began walking back home, leading the way. Rumi hurridly grabbed at the boar, tugging it along by the leg. It was much heavier than she thought it was, and knew that she couldn't carry it all the way back alone. Still, she felt extremely proud of herself, and hoped that this would quell the grumpy looks she had been getting her way. Rumi the huntress was certainly here to stay, and she would be delivering the prime kills to the upperclass, with more training from Penden.
(1,078 words)