An Unlikely Encounter (Kenai)

[vitani]

The lake waters hummed a gentle tune to the ears of one so keen. A lioness, framed by beauty and strength slowly padded forward, one agonizing step at a time. It wasn’t the water that drew her attention from the far stretched grasslands behind her, no, for what entered this land was smartly striped. Black and white met her burning gold optics. Vitani was hungry, the need for food was overwhelming. When was the last time she ate? She recalled a few failed hunts before this, but it was a far off memory inside her mind. There was no room for failure now, not when her stomach growled as loud as a grumpy male. Her eyes scanned the herd in front of her, flanking the banks of the lake as its waters churned with the indescribable blend of mud and who knows what else, but it was drinkable. And that was all that mattered. Vitani continued her mute approach, weaving around a shadowed rock that jutted out from the ground below her lowered body. She had to be silent, must be wary of anything that might spoil her chances for success. The zebra who she had planned to aim for, twitched its ear in her direction. She froze, memorized in its state of debate. Could the creature sense her presence? Vitani let out a unwilling growl as the beast neighed and bolted to the side, making the whole herd lift their heads and toss their manes in fright and take after their herdmate.

Vitani’s muscle bunched for the spring, power coursing through her veins in unison to the delicious hammering of her heart inside her chest. Wind seared her tanned pelt, tail streaming behind her like a half drawn battle flag. The chase ended relatively quickly, hardly enough time to pass between twice a battered eye, but her jaws clamped down on a young zebra’ throat, claws gripped onto its patterned hide. Panting, her tongue lolled out from her mouth, but it was well worth the effort. Grinning slightly with a self satisfied grunt, she lowered herself onto the ground. Before she dove into the carcass, her tongue swiped the animal’s hide before licking his lips and swallowing down the taste. With a single clamp of her heavily armed jaws, the large lioness tore at the corpse, the delightful stink of it already attracting buzzing parasites. Blood splattered her muzzle as she allowed the chucks of meat to slide down her throat. Currently she was enjoying her meal, a real treat for a loner like her, but unlike some wandering females and males, Vitani could call herself an experienced hunter. Her main flaw was the sheer bulk of her being, but in her years, she had learned to make due with herself, imperfections and all. Her ears flickered like the flame of a dying candle, aware of any hungry intruders that might happen across her way. Hyenas could be lurking. Vitani snarled despite herself, lost in a memory that jaded her entire being. That life was over and done with, and she could never go back.

[.k.e.n.a.i.]

Kenai had been traipsing the lands that he had no real jurisdiction over. Of course, everyone would forever have more. Stupid tigers. If only Kenai hadn't spent all that time wandering, these lands would be his. His, goddamnit. Ok, maybe they wouldn't have been. Any feline would have kicked the temporarily vagabond male, and claimed it for themselves. And how Kenai loathed Lions. They --well --- most of the time, they hated him too. Oh dear, let us all play happy families.

Speaking of happy families, a scent caught on the wind, on tinged with familiarity. Kenai obeyed the curiousity in him, and strode towards the source. Despite this, he felt a sick feeling gathering in his stomach, and tried to ignore it. Was it that bird he had eaten a short while ago? Of course not. His gaze fell onto a feline figure that struck resounding terror into him. Oh, dear god. Not a lioness. Not that. The male's aperture twisted in an expression of dislike and hate. Really, Kenai thought life could go on without this branch of the feline family, but the Gods had a different belief.

He shook his head, rather angrily. "Hey look, kids, it's a mangy Lioness." Well there was no one around, but Kenai felt like saying that. He didn't want to come across as depressed in front of this hulking feline.

ooC:// Sorry for the poor response. =[

[vitani]

The taste of blood rolled along her tongue, against her fur, perhaps inside her very senses. Vitani had become one with the kill, the very thrill that purred inside her contented stomach. Of course, she had not been able to finish the carcass herself or she wouldn’t have been able to rise most likely. It was best to only devour what you could stomach, and that rule didn’t include half grown zebra. Golden eyes fluttering back a few gnats that buzzing alongside her, sharing the corpse, she finally felt at peace. She was without threat and without a need for food any longer. What more could she want? But then another presence assaulted her nostrils, bringing an instinctive alertness along her features. She worked together the pieces of the scent, it was male, that much was for certain. Vitani couldn’t help but let out an exaggerated groan. Lions were such a nuisance, at least, if they only desire to push her away from her catch. Upon further speculation, Vitani was nearly as baffled as before. Tiger…It was thick on the air. Her jaws twisted in a hateful scowl, the tips of her fangs flashing in the bright African sunlight. She could feel his paw steps push through the foliage towards her, until a certain distance between them. A confident animal would have approached her straight away and chased her, but this tiger had another thought in mind. To keep a respectful distance. But his words were anything but polite. The lioness stood swiftly, eyes narrowed on this intruder.

Smiling to herself, she shared her own secret deep within the confines of her mind. She willed herself into a state of calm, a posture both insulting and slightly threatening. ”Oh, Sorry about that…I thought you were a threat.” She growled those words, snout wrinkled in an amused smirk. She took a hesitant step forward, willing herself to appear in control over the situation. Which apparently was the case. They were both wanderers from the look of it, and he was younger than her. Vitani had years over this male and they were evenly matched in size. Her tongue swiped along the ebony lines of her slightly bloodied maw, swallowing down the last bit of her kill. She could always come back to it later, that is, if nothing snatched it away from her. No. She wouldn’t let that happen. ”And don’t think about getting a free meal either.” The lioness’ tail lashed back and forth, a gesture to indicate she would be ready for a fight if things came out that way. She had often heard of aggressive tigers and their kind. They were the ones that preyed on lost lion cubs if they wandered off too far and they couldn’t be trusted. Muscles tense, a single alien motion from the tiger before her could promise bloodshed, but for the most part, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to more scars.

[.k.e.n.a.i.]

Really, if any other animal happened to cross Kenai's path at this time being he would have murdered them to get across the point that he was livid. His gaze glared right into the female, fur bristling as her comeback ended. But he inhaled and attempted to stifle the urge to leap on the feline and kill her. It was all a game of composure, and he didn't want to lose it, in respect. His ears burnt, though, as he focused his gaze on the lioness that insulted him rather cleverly.

"What me? A threat? Why of course not, dear. I wouldn't waste my time with a lioness of all beings."

He was planning to speak again, but currently running through his head was a thousand uspoken obscenities. If it was another creature but a lioness he'd probably be grinning on the inside, but rather unfortunately, it was this female that struck actual fear into his heart. If she had a Pride, it wouldn't be wise to harm her. When he did speak again, none of his inner emotions were audible in his tone, except the permanent derision that inhabited him.

"Boy, I'm quite glad I'm not a zebra. I'm sure if I was a Zebra you'd get your point through without words."

He was either being humourous or quite grumpy, but it didn't show in his tone, or his facial expression. He rested on his haunches, trying to avoid looking at this female. Eyes traveled off to the sky, ears pinned back in slight annoyance. Wonderful, Kenai. You landed yourself in a situation you'd rather not be in! he scolded himself.

[vitani]

Vitani was growing anxious. Her alertness so far had been focused entirely on this sole creature, this striped menace. What if something worse attacked her? Well, this tiger would surely run for the hills if hyenas approached them. The lioness flicked her ears lightly against the warm Saharan breeze. The bugs were getting on her nerves, but the tiger seemed much more annoying that that. She listened to his words with a half cocked head, a flicker of amusement shining from the depths of her blazing golden eyes. She said nothing to this, though she bared her fangs for a split second. Her shoulders rocked as she shifted her weight to the front of her body, the threat of springing upon this poor soul near unbearable. She had carefully watched the way he spoke to her, the way he acted in tune to her own words. The tiger was cautious as he should be in her presence. The last thing he wanted to do was to upset her in some way, to erase this sort of mock treaty with each other. Crickets chirped beside her, but feel silent as she dug her claws into the soil.

Then as he spoke his more recent statement, she found herself grow cold, heart hardening any humorous notion inside her. Beating around the carcass now seemed a bit boring, especially since her patience was wearing thin. ”Who said you have to be a zebra?” She said, ears leaning back against her head. Her vocals carried the air of a threat, carefully laced together to appear intimidating, maybe even fatal. If this tiger knew what was good for him, he would high tail it out of here while he still drew breath. Vitani hailed from no pride, at least, not anymore. She lived by her own rules and regulations. To her…everything that stole breath was a potential meal, and by that glint of fire in her burning optics, he knew that she wasn’t joking. ”Move along, Junior.” Hissing between her fangs, the female’s pelt bristled, caught on the tips of anger and frustration. It all was stupid. Why was this tiger so far from home anyway? Shaking back her thoughts, she continued to gaze hotly at the striped male, wondering what to do with him if he should fail to comply to her dismissal. She had no problem getting her point across by fang or claw.

[.k.e.n.a.i.]

Kenai was rather surprised at his sense of patience, as he awaited a response, any type of reaction, to come from this lioness. Whether to snarl, threaten, or make sarcastic marks, he didn't care. Just if he had to wait for hours on end... Well, he would never wait on her that long. That would just be stupid. He knew she would't take too long to answer him, but he was surprised at how fast boredom was entering him. Staring out on the horizon, so it looked like the edge of the earth, was rather satisfying in the short while that had been. He had smelt the scents of others here, a great variety of them making his senses go wild.

Kenai raised his form, to get a higher view of the world, but most importantly the wide expanse of world before him that he had entered... momentarily forgetting about Vitani, until he felt interested in a response. As he had thought before, whether to ridicule, or not he was fine. His fur was sluggishly obsorbing the heat, as the sun light shone down on his fur, making it look rather glossy. His rich eyes soon lowered onto the Lioness when she spoke. A contented smile appeared on his maw, ivories showing in his moment of satisfaction. Kenai was motionless, and silent for a second, before his head lowered slightly, muzzle wrinkled as he growled lowly, more in a fake threat.

But his smile was still there. "No, I don't think I will be going." He raised his head again, walking forth, but keeping a safe distance away from her. "I've made myself quite comfortable-" A solid plop on his behind, he shrugged his shoulders back. "-right here."

ooC:// Oh, my, this took a while. I'm sorry!

[.i.p.p.y.]

This thread is dead, due to Vitani's leave. c: