hanging out

[dakota]

Thomas was about to stroke the fox's fur once more, surprised at how soft it felt beneath his fingers, when the liard started nudging him two or three times.

Looking closely at her, it seemed she wanted him to do something, she was almost getting agitated. Watching as she finally moved away, then stopped and stared at him again, he realised he was to go with her somewhere.

His eyes strayed over to where the lion was still glaring at him, whatever he had been arguing with the liard about had got pretty heated from what he could make out, and the way he was being looked at, it was to do with himself, but he couldn't think of any reason why he should pose a threat.

Moving away from the fox, Thomas gave her a quick searching look, she didn't seem to antagonistic towards him, maybe they would get used to him more if he kept to himself and did what he thought the liard wanted of him.
Reaching inside his cloak to reassure himself his dagger was still there, he walked past the black maned lion averting his eyes, to Ayesha's side, where he scratched her head through the soft white fur that flew around almost making some look like it was standing on end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ayesha heard the boy come towards her and almost jumped when he touched her head, staring up at him she inclined her head telling him she wanted to go and then started walking, stopped and waited for him to catch up to her.
' It's working, he knows what I want... now we have to do something to impress the others, show them that he was a good find'.

Hearing her tummy rumble again, her head came up knowing what she had to do. Turning to the boy ,she forgot he couldn't understand and excitedly spoke.
"Come on, we're going hunting, we're going to bring back dinner for everyone."
Speeding up she broke into a little run, hoping the boy would be behind her.

[Kirsui]

"I assume you haven't heard the stories either?"

"Stories?" Isha asked, staring at Basilisk with a confused expression.

"I've never even seen 'humans' before", she continued, struggling slightly with the unfamiliar word.
"My pack lived in the middle of a desert. You don't hear much of the world beyond the pack borders."
She cringed, clearly not comfortable on recalling

---

"Would you want to be judged based on what others have or have't done in your pride?"

Night Flame stared after Memkrias with an unreadable expression, pondering the lioness' words. It wasn't until Memkrias had disappeared from her sight that she finally sighed and turned her head to one side, staring at the forest floor.

Memkrias was so young, and she had no idea what she was talking about. True, she hadn't really explained her hatred for humans either, but they hadn't asked either.

[blaqknoise]

"Stories? I've never even seen 'humans' before. My pack lived in the middle of a desert. You don't hear much of the world beyond the pack borders."

"Well they're bad news, and I'd rather not travel with one."

Phrixus let out a sigh. No matter what he said there was very little chance he would be able to convince Ayesha to leave him.

"So, you're from the desert, eh? What are you doing all the way out here?"

[Kirsui]

"So, you're from the desert, eh? What are you doing all the way out here?"

Isha gave Phrixus a nervous glance.
"I, um... Thought to start travelling?"

She cringed at her own lie, knowing well that her attempt to deceive Phrixus was miserable. With a sigh she glanced around, wishing she hadn't mentioned the desert.

"Look, it's not something I wanna talk about much, ok?" she said, her ears twitching nervously.
"Lets just say there was a lot of water included."

[blaqknoise]

"I, um... Thought to start travelling?"

Phrixus knew that she wasn't telling the truth, and Isha confirmed it by cringing after she had spoken.

"Look, it's not something I wanna talk about much, ok? Lets just say there was a lot of water included."

"Alright, sorry."

Phrixus was curious about what happened, but it seemed like he wouldn't find out... at least for now.

[kitkat]

Pizeera kept walking, if NightFlame wanted to be by herself well it was her choice, no one could make her if she didn't want to.

"That did't go so well eh..."

Not looking at Memkria, Pizeera found himself smiling at her comment but kept walking.
"well it's her choice and from what she says she has her reasons, she just hasn't told us what they are. Maybe she'll come back and fill us all in."

Coming back through the bush he found Phrixus with the fox, but there wasn't any sign of Ayesha or the boy. Stopping he looked around, there didn't look like a fight had happened.

"Where have they gone, you haven't told them to leave have you ?"

[Genie]

Memkrias listened to Pizeera's words, they made sense and perhaps she should't of said anything. She knew she acted a bit impulsively at times, but still it just did't feel right the monkey human thing was blamed for whatever others had done.

She was about to say something when they walked through to where the others were but Ayesha and the new one were absent. Then Pizeera immediately questioned their location before Memkrias could wonder more and she stood there waiting to see how'd they react.

[Kirsui]

"Alright, sorry."

Isha smiled faintly at Phrixus.
"It's fine. Maybe I'll tell you someday... But not right now."

It was then when her ears picked up foot steps, and she turned just in time to see Pizeera and Memkrias return - without Night Flame.

"Where have they gone, you haven't told them to leave have you ?"

She frowned.
"No, Ayesha just decided to leave with the boy. I believe she said something about hunting."
Her frown deepened.
"And where's Night Flame?" she asked.
"I thought you two were supposed to bring her back?"

[blaqknoise]

"Where have they gone, you haven't told them to leave have you?"

Phrixus turned to see that Pizeera and Memkrias has returned, but NightFlame wasn't with them.

"No," he replied, "Ayesha went hunting with the human."

[dakota]

Thomas stood beside the liard, his hand falling down as she moved forward breaking into a run. Hesitating for a moment he started to gather speed trying to keep up with her, so he wouldn't loose sight of where she was going, all he knew was that she wanted him to follow.

His feet had hardened greatly from his time of being alone and fending for himself, so the small stones and debris that littered the ground between stretches of hot dirt didn't bother him greatly, he didn't wince but smiled at the way the breeze was lapping over his face blowing his hair back out of the way.

Ahead he saw Ayesha move to her right heading for the long grasses. Veering off as well, Thomas came in behind her and to her side, lowering himself down, pulling his cloak around him covering his sight and smell.
Following her line of direction he could see three or four gazelles grazing under the clear sky.
' so it's food we've come after.. I can't run as fast as her or those gazelles, I'm not sure what help I can be.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ayesha moved quietly through the dry grasses, blowing some seeds that had clung to her lips away with a puff and gently lowered her self to the ground, her underbelly massaging the warm ground.

Hearing the boy come closer, she didn't bother to turn around, but waited until he had lowered himself down close beside her. Turning her head slightly she nodded towards her prey and then caught his eyes, she could see that he knew what she was after, but that was all.
Not knowing how to convey to him, what she was wanting, Ayesha moved her paw back and forth idily, and stared at him once again, smiling when she saw his gaze was watching what her paw was doing.

Tapping his hand that was pressed on the ground, she got his attention and nodded to her paw. With one she moved it towards a stone lying there and showed it moving in a circle coming up behind the stone, and then with her other paw she moved it slowly front on to the stone. Sighing, as it was the best she could do, Ayesha stared at the boy and looked at him questionably.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas watched carefully as the liard played with the stone, then at last his eyes opened wide and he grinned back at her, his head nodding slightly.
' she wants one of us to go behind, get them moving and then the other will head them off and hopefully attack bringing a kill.'

Coming up from his crouch, his knees still bent, Thomas's hand came up and touched Ayeshas cheek getting her attention. Looking at what she had done on the ground and then meeting her eyes, his hand dropped from her and pointed over to where the antelope where standing around eating.
Pulling the cloak higher around him, Thomas moved forward past Ayesha slowly and started to make his way around so he would be directly behind the animals.

[kitkat]

No, Ayesha just decided to leave with the boy. I believe she said something about hunting."

Pizeera looked first at Isha and then to Phrixus.
"You think Ayesha with that boy, can catch something by themselves without getting trampled, maybe I'm not giving her enough brains, but I really doubt it, think I'll just follow and see what happens, especially as that human has a weapon with him."

About to move away, the fox spoke, making Pizeera pause and look at her.

And where's Night Flame.
"I thought you two were supposed to bring her back?"

"She chose not to come with us, it's her decision really, you could always go and ask her why she hates things like the boy, it might make her want to stay with us.

[Kirsui]

"She chose not to come with us, it's her decision really, you could always go and ask her why she hates things like the boy, it might make her want to stay with us."

Isha stared at Pizeera with a disbelieving expression. Then she snorted.

"'Chose not to come'... yeah right", she muttered with a glare. "You just ain't trying hard enough... But you know what, I don't care. I'll go get her myself if you ain't got the faintest idea of how to persuade anyone."

She began to head towards where Pizeera and Memkrias had come from when she suddenly stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

"You staying here and wait for Ayesha and the boy, Phrixus? Or come with me to figure out what's wrong with Night Flame?"

[blaqknoise]

"You staying here and wait for Ayesha and the boy, Phrixus? Or come with me to figure out what's wrong with Night Flame?"

"I'll go with you. I don't think there would be much to do here if I stayed anyway."

Phrixus then turned and began to follow Isha.

[kitkat]

Pizeera could hear the fox yelling at him, but closed himself off to it, if she wanted NightFlame to come back well she could just go get her, herself instead of demanding and carrying on, silly females, they were all the same.

Keeping on walking, he wasn't sure if Memkria was following or stayed behind with the rest, for now he wanted to see what the boy and Ayesha were upto, having the two of them together, was just asking for trouble he thought, but maybe he was about to learn something.

Slowly now he moved through the long grass and made his way up onto a small mound, while still hiding, from here he had a good view.
Looking he could see a small herd of antelopes and over to the left there was the white fur of Ayehsa neck he could see peeking out, but as much as Pizeera looked he couldn't see the boy. Lying down now he waited to see what would happen.

[Genie]

Memkrias watched as everybody moved off in different directions, she sighed and shook her head, when were things getting normal again.

She moved off after Pizeera following behind a bit, wading through the long grass, she could't even see above it but she could hear him ahead. Suddenly she lost him, there was no noise and she hurried a little not wanting to left alone. Suddenly without warning she came across him laying down in the grass - she could't react fast enough and stumbled over his butt. She fell flat on top of his back and layed there, surprised and stunned at what had just happened.

[dakota]

Thomas moved along slowly making sure he watched where he placed his hands and feet, also not letting the tall grass sway too much that would give away his presence. Every now and again he would stop and just tilt his head listening to everything around him.

Finally he was in position... quietly he reached back for his dagger and placed it in his mouth, and then in a crawling fashion with his cloak pulled over his shoulders and head he moved forward, stopping and then forward again.

Peering through the thinning foliage, he could see the animals still standing around, luckily the breeze was flowing the other way, still giving him protection. Pausing Thomas transferred the knife from his mouth back into his hand clenching at the makeshift handle tightly, and counted to three.
' Just hope the liard is ready and we both understood what was to happen'

Inching forward Thomas looked up again just as one of the animals turned in his direction, stopped feeding and stared. Not giving it any time to react, he jumped to his feet and ran at them letting out a shrill yelp,watching as he was gaining on the smallest who was trying to turn to follow the others. It's hooves dug in and it started moving leaving Thomas behind. Standing up to his full height the boy watched as the antelope ran in the liards direction, hopefully now he would see some action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ayesha lay there staring, wondering how long it would take the human boy to do what she had outlined, would he even be able to do it undetected, so far the animals hadn't moved and just stood around grazing.

A sharp scream suddenly filled the air, making Ayesha jump slightly. Knowing it probably came from the boy, she wasn't sure what it was meant to be for, but then heard the noise of hooves coming her way. Not bothering to think about him anymore Ayesha rose off the ground and stalked to the edge , waiting for them to get closer.

Her nostrils twitched and her claws were now unsheathed, almost pawing at the ground ready to move. At last they were nearly upon her, Ayesha pushed herself out from her hiding place and started running along side. She could see the fear in the ones eyes and she pounced.
The tip of her claws dug in the antelopes rear making it stagger and almost fall, but at the last moment regained its balance as the liards paws hit the ground loosing its hold. Pushing her back legs out hard Ayesha once again lept at the animal getting a firmer hold on it's back and twisted herself forcing them both to the ground. As it lay there shreiking and kicking, she dug her claws into the soft underbelly, using her strength to finally let the antelopes life blood run free, waiting till it quietened ,taking a last breath and lay there twtiching.

Standing up, still panting hard Ayesha looked around feeling quiet pleased with herself, it had been a while since she had gone on a kill for fresh meat, now she wondered just actually where the boy had got too.

[Kirsui]

"I'll go with you. I don't think there would be much to do here if I stayed anyway."

Isha smiled brightly, glad that she didn't need to go looking for the lioness alone. She wasn't really scared to go alone, after all she had managed just fine before she had met this group. However, it was less likely that anything would try to eat her when she was with the lion.

Isha didn't speak much as they walked. Her nose was close to the ground as she sniffed out the scent trail where Night Flame, Pizeera and Memkrias' scents overlapped each other. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn't lead them the wrong way.

---

Night Flame sighed heavily and abandoned all thoughts of resting. She simply couldn't relax, not after the sudden appearance of that human boy. Not only that, but Pizeera and Memkrias had clearly come to change her mind about leaving, and yet all they had accomplished was agitate her more.

The dark furred lioness pushed herself up and pounced down from the fallen tree. She was about to walk away when she caught the sound of footsteps coming her way. She forced a calm expression on her face as she waited for whoever it was that was approaching. She was slightly surprised when Isha came to her view, soon followed by Phrixus.

"Did you come to persuade me?" she asked quietly from the two.
"To get me to return to the group?"

[blaqknoise]

Phrixus followed Isha as she sniffed the ground trying to pick up the scent of NightFlame. After a while of walking they finally came across the lioness.

"Did you come to persuade me? To get me to return to the group?"

"I can't make you do anything you don't want to," Phrixus replied, "But you can't tell me that you enjoy being by yourself, especially after how long I assume you've already been alone."

[kitkat]

Just as Pizeera was about to move to get a better view, something soft and warm landed on his back, surprised he gave a small grunt and rolled pinning whatever it was under him.
Staring when he saw it was Memkria, the lion held back a comment and moved off her whispering.
"Memkria just be still and quiet or else you'll miss out on something to eat, I need to keep watch in case Ayesha and the boy stuff this up and I have to go help."

Moving away from her Pizeera was just about to move forward when he heard some sort of screaming noise. His head came up above the long grass and he watched as the boy started chasing the antelope, laughing out loud now, he turned to the lioness.
"Come and look at this Memkria, the boy is trying to get our lunch, I wonder where Ayesha is."

As soon as he had said the words he saw the white fur tuft move out of the grasses and start chasing one of them until she bought it down and stood over it.
' well, what do you know. She's not that dumb after all'

[Kirsui]

"I can't make you do anything you don't want to. But you can't tell me that you enjoy being by yourself, especially after how long I assume you've already been alone."

"I do not claim to enjoy it", Night Flame replied calmly.
"But nor do I have any intention to stay near that human."

Isha frowned at the lioness' words.
"The boy's not that bad, ya know", the fox said.
"He was nice, he's got a really gentle touch."

Night Flame turned to stare down at the fox, and Isha shrunk back slightly.

"And the next thing you know", Night Flame replied coldly, "is those same hands with their gentle touch, wrapped around your throat and squeezing the life out of you."