|..| Golden Plains/Moonlit Savannah: An African RP |..| We N

For a moment, Dairka looked like she was about to cry, but then she shook it off. "Well . . . wait - we were still hunting, right?"

"Yeah." Distracting myself, I scented the air.

Dairka did too. The preys' smells washed through her scent glands, and she considered it . . . how far were they, were any of them fresh, would they be easy to catch?

"There's a herd of zebras that way," I said, flicking my tail downwind. "And a herd of wildebeests beyond them."

Dairka nodded. "Let's head that way, then," she said quietly, and started making her way towards the zebras.

I nodded in agreement and followed.

She could smell them now that she was paying attention. The scent of the equines was getting closer, and Dairka knew they weren't very far off - now was where she should pay extra attention to being quiet. So she flattened herself the ground, creeping forward inch by inch.

I did the same, keeping my tail low but not low enough that it dragged along the ground.

When Dairka was close enough to hear their slow hoofbeats, she stopped, and glanced at her sister. It depended now on which of them decided to go around and chase the zebras towards the one in hiding.

I used my tail to silently gesture that I'd go around, then began creeping away, parallel to the herd.

Dairka waited quietly, then, keeping all her senses alert. The moment the animals started running, she needed to be ready to rush out after one. Funny, how they always seemed to fall for the same trick, over and over . . .

I scanned the herd, the never-ending stripes making me slightly dizzy. I picked out a young male who had wandered away from his mother and crept towards him, circling around so that I was opposite Dairka.

Dairka could no longer see Nité, so now her only choice was to wait quietly. To do so, however, she had to make sure to stifle all her instincts. She wouldn't race out after the zebras, she wouldn't fidget, she wouldn't sigh with impatience. She would just wait without moving a muscle.

I suppose my eyes aren't technically muscles, though. At that thought the lioness glanced up towards the sky, blinking a little. It was pretty boring up there . . . no clouds, just the too-bright sun glaring down at them.

(XD)

I stalked carefully towards the young zebra, being careful not to scare him too early or panic the rest of the herd. I waited until I was close, then leapt out, snarling at him. He raced away in the opposite direction, straight towards Dairka.

(())

Dairka almost forgot what she was doing. There was the snarl, then thudding hooves; her eyes flickered down curiously, then widened as she saw what was happening. The zebras in the herd were scattering, running every which way to get away from Nité, who was chasing one in particular straight towards herself. Oh, right. Throwing herself into attack mode, Dairka lowered herself even more. Her teeth bared and her whiskers pulled back; she was ready. The moment the little zebra got close enough . . .

Now!

She sprang out when the zebra was just close enough, connecting solidly with its frail body with a snarl. It kicked and struggled beneath her, making whatever noises zebras make frantically, but the moment Dairka's teeth bit into the neck of the black-and-white animal, it was all over.

I bounded up, watching the panicked herd scatter. "Nice catch."

"Thanks," Dairka panted, a grin flashing momentarily across her face. She slowly stepped off the creature's lifeless body, her tail flicking back and forth. "Nice . . . uh . . . chasing?"

That had actually been rather good for her, she realized. The hunting had helped her to forget about Zeon long enough to actually enjoy her life, even if only for a few moments.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"So are we taking this back to camp, or eating it ourselves?" Dairka said, offering Nité a grin. She was a little hungry, but if Nité wasn't hungry, she wouldn't really feel like eating on her own.

"I dunno. What do you think?"

"I'm up for eating it," she said. She didn't need to think twice about that.

I shrugged. "Okay."

Dairka walked up to the zebra and tore off a mouthful.

I joined her, eating slowly.

Now that they weren't doing anything that required concentration, however, Dairka began to feel her worry coming back. The fur on her back bristled slightly at the thought of Zeon creeping up on them while they were eating . . . she found herself glancing around with each bite, just to make sure they were truly alone.