|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:58 am
Diallo snapped quickly at Lilah's slow, controlled movements, his sharp cry of her name silenced by her own command to the stranger. It took him another moment to grasp at what was going on before he could make his body respond to his will. The silver and black male turned his body to better face their aggressor, another snarl painting its way on his face. He would not let Lilah fight her alone. Absolutely would not, even if it was suicidal.
The queen was less interested in the male's movements than the female's. Predatory mind quickly picked up on the other's scarred leg which she obviously favored, tongue snaking across her lips once more. No wonder the male seemed so aggressive and protective when the female was already wounded. But it was less the scars that decorated Lilah than other things that seemed to catch Uchawi's attention. Regardless, her face turned up into a more twisted grin of aggression. This female acted the role of a nomad, so she would be treated as one. "I think you've misunderstood, pup. It is your place to leave and hope that we do not follow." Perhaps if the air wasn't filled with anger and fear a compromise could have been reached, as Uchawi had with Mvyma moving across what would become her territory. But unlike the young juvenile at the time, this male and this female presented themselves as threats.
Diallo's ears flickered sharply, and he took a cautious step forward towards Lilah's side. His nose twitched again, contrasting the movements of his ears, and he stopped his silent growls. He'd felt something familiar, but he couldn't quite put his jaws around it. Hunkered down lower to the ground, Diallo took yet another step forward. "I know you," he half-whined his words, "I know you. Y-you're from Chumu. You... you're my mother." He looked even more surprised that he'd said the words than at how absurd they were.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:19 pm
The huge female was fierce, but she was dumb as mud. Lilah tossed her head, gesturing towards the river bed far below with her snout. "Look," she said urgently. The animals were already almost up! No matter that Lilah and Diallo were trespassers here, this wasn't the time for the stranger to be focusing on them. It was sheer luck that the beast hadn't cornered them right above the point where the animals were carving a path. They might all be trampled, then! A spark of anger overrode Lilah's weariness for a moment, causing her to twist her lip in a silent half-snarl.
Lilah's glare was broken by Diallo's bizarre pronouncement. Her eyes widened in surprise. She turned her head to stare at him, instead. What the ...? Was he trying some weird trick on the aggressive female? But no. Diallo was clever, but he wasn't ... sneaky. Lilah threw off her bewilderment with an effort. There was no time for any of this. She began to move along the ledge, stepping around the furious queen without even a passing glance. Her teeth cut deep into her lips as she forced herself to walk evenly, ignoring the horrible throb from her weak leg. Show no weakness. No more than she had to, at least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:34 pm
The cackle that was on Uchawi's lips at the male's twisted statement didn't fade at Lilah's urging to glance into the river. So the beasts were going to try and climb out over here, too. She let Lilah pass, cackling still as she went. If they were making it up here, then she needed to return back to her own clan to head off the downstream flow. Picking up into a trot, the large female headed down the way she had come.
Even as she moved off, she barked over her shoulder, "If you're not gone before we're done eating, we'll have you and your rogue boyfriend for dessert!" In truth, they really weren't worth her time with a whole clan to feed and look after, plus the need to see how much of the overflow they could corral and steer back towards the green land deeper in their territory. Having called everyone here, there was little doubt that their dwindling supplies had up and moved out of their land.
Diallo didn't even bother to growl after the clan hyena, trotting instead after Lilah. He looked preoccupied, but at least he was getting out of the way of trouble and into a better position to help Lilah catch their meal. It wouldn't be as difficult, hopefully, with the animals all scared and tired from the river crossing. But they were still bigger than he was, and that meant they were dangerous.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:00 pm
Lilah sneered at the departing female with as much scorn as she could muster and promptly turned back to the task at hand. She would have to think about this later. Diallo's strange outburst would definitely make some food-for-thought. But now there were more pressing matters.
Her progress along the cliffside was slow. The animals were almost up over the bank's lip before she made it. Perhaps it was good that she had been slow. As soon as the first trembling, staggering gnu clawed its way onto firm ground, dozens more poured up. They were still scrambling and falling and trampling one another, but the pressure had found an out. Further along the river, in the direction the savage queen had gone, another part of the herd was hauling itself up. Good, it would keep the strangers occupied. Lilah had eyes only for the chaos in front of her. Once they had all four hooves on dry ground, the animals seemed inclined to hang around and relax, but there were more coming up behind them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:08 pm
Diallo hurried to Lilah's side - and to the safety of distance between himself and the trampling herd. His ears pricked forward, nose quivering, as the first gnu came over the rim. The first was farthest from the most lucky, quickly finding injury and perhaps death under the hooves of its fellows that rose after it. Diallo's first thought was that they could avoid the whole problem of being injured by simply waiting. At the rate this was happening, their meal might be delivered to them freshly mauled.
He looked quickly to Lilah, tail waving quickly as the puppyish behavior seemed to be coming back to him. His weight shifted from one paw to another, giving a small whine just to let her know he was anxious. As if it was really all that difficult to tell.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:00 pm
The unfortunate wildebeest did indeed look like free food. It would be pretty thoroughly tenderized by the time Diallo and Lilah got to it. She eyed it speculatively. Much easier to get to than the sad humps and bumps of ex-beest now floating down the river. Much, much easier to tackle than a live wildebeest.
Lilah's good humor was returning, but she was too worn out to return Diallo's playful behavior. The confrontation, the mad river crossing ... it was all too much. She settled for a quick grin, tongue lolling. The black hyena moved back a bit, making room for the stream of wildebeests thundering up the bank. Keeping an eye on their dinner, Lilah settled down for a bit more waiting.
Waiting was popular. All along the river banks, the predators Lilah had only glimpsed before were moving close. Rangy, almost skeletal spotted cats were playing tag in the grass as they waited for their prey. Another spotted cat watched closely from the cover of a twisted tree. It was short, broad-chested, and heavily muscled. Lilah would not want to tangle with that one. With the herd between her, Diallo, and the distant queen, Lilah could not see the foreign hyena clan. She was sure they were there, patrolling their own section of bank. Good for them. There was enough for all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
