I'm Surrounded by Idiots [ Dziva ]

[Tai]

Puffs of white hung in the crisp, winter air as he stood there, jaws parted, muscles tensed, and eyes focused. His ears were swiveled forward, directed solely on the object that had caught his interest. It was a fluffy little thing. It sported a vibrant red coat of dense fur. Little tufts of fur extended from its ears, giving it a…rather interesting appearance. He had never seen anything quite like this particular specimen. The ones that had hung around the zoo were always duller in color, ranging from warm greys to tawny; and they definitely didn’t have those fascinating ear pieces. He had come to the conclusion that it was a squirrel of some sort. It looked very much like them in body shape and busy tail. Only the coloring and ear tufts had made him doubtful of his assumption.

Per usual, Tai was left to his own devices for the day. He had no real role within the pride other than to tag along with the more “wild” members in an attempt to make himself more useful. He couldn’t really hunt, nor could he fight, so he was banished to the lower rankings of the totem pole. This lower rank allowed him a certain freedom though. Being unbound by any specific duty meant that he was free to wander around and explore this new “home” of his, which was how he ended up where he was, stalking a squirrel.

The tree rodent munched away on whatever it was it was holding in its tiny paws. The feline could only guess it was a nut of some sort. That’s what squirrels ate, right? Nuts? Acorns? That sort of thing? Tai couldn’t recall. He hadn’t ever really seen one feeding up close before. It had always been from a distance, from behind that chicken wire fence or thick glass windows. Claire had mentioned that the vermin creatures got into everything, but had mentioned that they generally ate nuts amongst a variety of other things. Could these so-called “wild” squirrels be similar in diet to the ones back home?

It seemed oblivious to its surroundings as it fed contently, its back towards Tai as he crept ever closer to it. He carefully placed one paw in front of the other, mindful of how the snow might shift under his weight. He was still new to this “hunting” thing. Sure, he had practiced such techniques before, done the whole, stalk, wait, stalk, wait, stalk, pounce ordeal. He had never actually done it to kill though. It had always been a game, where whatever he had deemed his “prey” didn’t try to fight back or run away. The creatures in this place though, oh, how he had been in for a surprise when the first time he had captured a squirrel between his paws that it turned around and sank those bloody sharp teeth into his lip. To think that a creature so small could inflict so much pain!

He wasn’t going to let it happen this time. No. This time, he was going to kill it, just like he had seen the others do it. Quick and easy, not even breaking a sweat. Tai stalked closer, his thick tail flicked about behind him as his muscles tensed up. He was so close. So close. If he pounced now, he would surely have it pinned between his paws. Those amber eyes of his were trained on their target, watching for the slightest sign of detection. The rusty-red critter only happily ate away at the nut in its paws.

Tai’s lowered himself into a pouncing position. His muscles twitched, eager to overtake the rodent before him. He drew still, mind focused only on the squirrel. A flick of its furry tail, and Tai pounced. A horrid squeal erupted from the creature as his forepaws came down upon it, his claws unsheathing as they came to grab a hold of the quick-footed animal to prevent it from escaping his grasp. It squirmed and wriggled in his paws, chattering and making quite the ruckus in its attempts to escape. The feline stared down at his prey. Now all he needed to do was kill it.

…how did he go about doing that though?

The last time he had tried to bite one of these damn things, it sent him hissing and spitting. He wasn’t about to make that mistake twice. His back paws lowered themselves down to the snow-laden earth, allowing him to obtain a laying position. His tail rapidly flicked about behind him, shifting the white powder to and fro as he examined his catch. “There’s got to be a way to kill these things,” he grumbled to himself, his head bobbing back and forth. Its head and neck were so small, how could he possibly sink his teeth into it without his lips becoming a victim to rodent teeth once more?

The squirrel barked and threw a fit between his paws, desperate to get away from the domesticated wild cat.

“Oh, hush, you. If you’d just stay still for a minute, I might be able to find a way to kill you without you biting me.”

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Word Count: 861
OOC: Tai is too domesticated for his own good xD

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[Dziva]

The day had thus far been quite uneventful. With a full scale pride meeting behind her and everyone more or less back to their assigned duties for the day, Dziva took the momentary lapse in organization as a chance to blow off hunting for a few hours and catch up on some much needed sleep. She always found herself better accustomed to doing everything in the dark anyways. During the day, her stark black fur and even darker patterns stuck out like a lump of coal in the snow unless she slinked through the shadows, which wasn't entirely out of character for her but certainly a hassle, especially during a hunt. Though she never claimed to be the best huntress in the pride, she liked to think she was in the top three, especially when it came to stealth. Though she was no fan of the Keepers, she was rather pleased with what they did to her. The addition of... what did they call it? A red panda's DNA? Whatever animal it was, it was certainly useful to her. Her contempt for tree climbing quickly turned into a passion and her considerably lengthy tail gave her added balance and agility when traversing thick boughs and slender branches. This allowed her more and better opportunities for ambush hunting – dropping out of trees upon her completely unsuspecting prey.

Today, however, all of those skills were assigned to finding her a nice comfortable spot in a tree to curl up and sleep the rest of the day away. Sharp felid claws made scaling the rough bark of an old oak look like child's play as the sleek black serval-panda slithered up to a low hanging bough. Upon discovering a bird had built quite the elaborate nest in her favorite spot within her favorite tree, she couldn't help the haughty snort that escaped her as she knocked it to the ground below with a swipe of a paw. Lucky for the bird it had already left in search of a better home within the dome, but she couldn't have cared less if it did or not. Circling once, twice, and three times, she dropped her rump upon the bough and then lowered down onto her side, her tail lazily dangling over the edge of the bough and swaying pliantly to some unheard rhythm. For a moment, she was lost in a nostalgic reverie, those bright lime green sights closing as she laid her head down and tried her best to remember the thunderous drums the warriors used to play in her village. Such beautiful music... Crunch! ...deep beats of courage and triumph... Crunch! ... all in honor of their goddess... Crunch! ...UGH, wat is dat rackeet!?

Eyes snapping open, Dziva picked up her head with a displeased growl, her gaze darting in way of the aggravation below. It was that pesky little "cage cat" again, trying his luck at catching one of the most annoying bits of prey to be found. How fitting that it would be him having a go at snatching up a squirrel. Rolling slightly, she moved to recline upon her stomach and take in the show below, shaking her head a little as she noted his terrible posture and amateur stealth. His efforts at silencing his paws in the snow were having the opposite effect. With such large paws the best technique would be to spread them out as far as possible and tread above the snow, not squeeze them together and compact the frozen flakes into that awful crunching sound. He was lucky that dimwitted squirrel was far too engrossed in its late season snack to notice. When he finally did capture the little pest, she wasn't surprised when he had no idea what to do next, though she had hoped he would have figured it out quite quickly. When he spoke to the thing, she brought her paw to her face in some semblance of a humanoid facepalm, a sigh escaping her.

Allowing herself to slide off the bough, the ink hued serval came in for a landing a few feet away from Tai and his catch, kicking up a spray of wintery white as she did so. "Are you really dat foolish? Keep holding eet like dat and it will bite you... again." She wasn't around to witness his first attempt, but she had seen its after effects passing him by one day. There was no mistaking that swollen lip for anything else. Eyeing him with obvious disdain, she gave him a moment more to attempt to make sense of the situation, though impatience soon got the better of her. "You see eets neck is small, you are biggar. Take its back in your mouth and shake eet. Hard. Its neck will break and you will not get bittan.'



OOC • This is what I'm doing at lunch instead of submitting reports into the database. Shhhh~ X3

[Tai]

The tree rodent continued its barking rampage as he tried to figure out the best way to kill it. He wiggled his digits, allowing his claws to tap against the critter’s warm body. What to do, what to do. He wasn’t about to make a second attempt at biting its neck. What was that saying that Claire had said a lot? ‘“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice” …uuuh…shame on…is it them or me?’ The squirrel chattered at him, causing the feline to remember what he had been doing. “Oh yeah…” he murmured.

Tai dug his claws firmly into the rodent, causing it to let out a squeal of pain. He felt a tingle run down his spin at the noise. ‘How do you like that, vermin?’ he thought sadistically. It felt like some sort of justice had been served. It wasn’t the same squirrel that had bit him…at least he didn’t think so, but it made him feel like vengeance had been had nonetheless. He thrummed his claws against its pelt as he reverted back to his previous thoughts. He lowered his head down to inspect the animal better. His paws were big enough that they trapped the majority of its body. Its head was pressed firmly into the show with how he had pinned it, and its tail flicked with each angry bark it made. His eyes zeroed in on the rodent’s head. It was small enough…

“Hmm…” He opened his jaws, exposing those sharp canines of his. Maybe if he just… The sudden thick crunch of snow startled the cat, making his entire body visibly twitch. Tai’s head snapped back, his mouth shut. His ears flattened against his cranium and his body pressed as close to the snow-covered ground as it could. His thick tail flicked wildly and his grasp on the squirrel tightened. He was about to let out a growl when his amber sights alighted onto the source of the sound that had surprised him. He visibly brightened at the sight of a familiar face. “Long-legs!” he greeted enthusiastically, completely missing the irritated edge that hung about her. Had he been a dog, his tail would have been thumping the ground.

At her tone though, his ears flattened once more and he tried to discreetly hide his pinned catch. He stole a fleeting glance at his hidden prey, subconsciously shuffling his grip on it. “Hahaha,” he chuckled nervously, “You know, that’s not very nice to sa—” His words came to a sudden halt as he realized something. “Wait, again?” he inquired unsurely, ears pricking forward. His head slightly cocked to one side. He hadn’t thought anybody had seen his…unfortunate first attempt at hunting and killing something. He inwardly panicked. He had thought for sure he had been alone. One of the real wild cats had seen his blunder? Oh, how humiliating!

She brought him out of his quickly worsening thoughts with a bit of irritable advice on how to kill the squirrel. He blinked at her, considering her words. There was a pause before he slowly turned to look at his chattering prey. He carefully shifted his paws so he could see more of the squirrel. The shift in pressure caused the critter to lurch, trying to escape once more. Tai quickly reapplied his clawed paws. He snapped his attention back to the charcoal she-cat. His ears folded back as he gave her a sort of panicked look. “It’ll run off!” he screeched, “And, how can I be sure it won’t bite me if I try your way, Long-legs?!” He completely forgot about his previous worry about being embarrassed in front of his more “wild” cousin felines.

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Word Count: 615
OOC: xD Bad, Eve! I hope I gave ya’ enough to respond to Dx

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[Dziva]

Large triangular ears tipped aft against her skull as teeth were bared in a flash of displeasure at the name he'd grown quite accustomed to calling her, even if it only was once or twice. An irritated snort escaped her and hung as a puff of warm condensation in the chilly mid-winter air as she took a few steps closer to the cat and his quarry, setting those bright toxic green eyes on the squirming rodent. It wasn't very big but it had a lot of fight in it and though she cared very little for the creature's feelings, there was a very good reason for killing it quickly. "Each momant you waste letting eet struggal, its fear poisans its meat. It will taste 'orrable by deh time you figure out how to kill eet."

Taking a breath and holding it, the spliced felid raised a paw and concentrated a meager charge of static electricity within it before extending her "index" claw and touching it to one of the males fumbling paws. The shock would not harm him or the rodent, but it would be enough to startle him into releasing the critter. Reacting quickly as the terrified tree dweller attempted to make a break for it, the African cat's jaws came down upon the squirrel's back just below the neck. She gave the screeching creature a quick hard shake and within moments the once lively animal fell limp between her teeth, after which she dropped it at the paws of the male. "Dere." Her salmon tinged tongue darted forth to ease along her maw and lap away the tiny hint of blood that lingered there, the rusty taste summoning a swell of saliva that was quickly swallowed.

"You see how I did eet? Dat is eet. Dat is all." It was her way of saying something akin to "simple as that" as she gave the male a very stern look, hoping he would understand the impromptu lesson. Looking away from him then, a sigh escaped her as she realized she would never get back to sleep at this rate, and now she was hungry. Tipping her head skyward, she scanned the trees for any sign of life – a bird, another squirrel, anything really. She just wanted something to tide her over until later on when she actually need to go out and hunt for the pride. Looking back at the golden cat, she spoke her last words of advice. "Stop fearing harm. Your prey ees noting but food for you, deh predator."



O O C • Sorry for the delay dear, you already know why. ~<3 There's a tiny powerplay in there, I hope you don't mind. If it needs editing, I shall, just let me know. c:

[Tai]

Tai raised an invisible brow at the unfriendly look she gave him, cocking his head to one side in an almost curious manner. What was that for? She let out a breath before finally stepping closer to him. Those vivid green eyes of hers were settled on his captured prey. He unconsciously tugged the tree rat closer to his body, his tail whipping back and forth across the powdered snow. Was she going to take it from him? Surely not…that would be mean! He caught it, fair and square! ‘No, no. She would have tried to take it by now…maybe she just wants a better look at it…’ there was a moment of thought, ‘Yeah! Maybe she just wants a look at my catch!’ Had she been his old master, Claire, he would have easily placed the rodent before her as a show of his skills. But, alas, she was not.

His ears flickered when she spoke up with that weird accent of hers again. Poison the meat? Wasn’t fear an emotion? A feeling? How could something like that “poison” the meat? His eyes narrowed in confusion as he sought the answer to her confusing statement. “Wha—” His question stopped short as his amber sights fell on her extended paw. His ears flattened against his cranium and his head drew back in an almost offensive manner. “What are you—AHHHGMYGOD!” A strange sensation shot through his body, causing his muscles to briefly stiffen and his hairs to stand on end. The feline leapt up in an instant, relinquishing his prey without a second thought. Forget that shit!

He stumbled away from the long-legged she-cat, sending snow flying in his haste. When he finally found his paws again, he quickly backed himself against the trunk of a nearby tree. His eyes were wide, his fur puffed out and his back arched. Even his paws were spread out widely across the snow, as if he might fall at any moment. His ears were pressed firmly against his head as he watched the dark-coated feline kill the squirrel with ease before moving over to him and dropping it at his feet. He could do nothing but press his body firmly into the bark and watch her with a wary eye. His heart was pounded rapidly in his chest. Had he been of a more stable, testosterone-drive mind, he might have found attraction in her prowess and licking the blood from her lip. As it was though, Tai could only feel a small fear for the deadly beauty before him.

The golden cat swallowed and gave a quick glance down at the squirrel at his forepaws before looking at her again. He gave a slow nod at her words as she fixed him with a look. His mind was too focused on what had just happened to form any words in reply. He was silent as the grave even when she finally turned away. Tai cautiously watched her, his heart slowly calming down from the strange shock she had given him just moments before. His fur began to fall back against his body and his muscles began to relax, only to return when those green eyes settled on him again. She gave him some advice with that foreign tongue of hers, which he stored for later use. Right now, he was too focused on another matter that needed to be taken care of first.

“What did you do to me?!” he blurted out, finally finding his voice again. “When you touched me, you did something to me! What did you do to me, Long-legs?!” His amber eyes looked down at his body as if for emphasis; his fur and body had relaxed once more. “You—You made my body feel funny, and my fur stand up!” He motioned at her with a thick forepaw. “When you touched me with your claw, it made all of that happen!” He gave her a sort of desperate look, silently hoping for an answer from her.

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Word Count: 669
OOC: xD Totally fine! Tai was in need of it! You already know why this is late ~<3

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[Dziva]

Her gaze had strayed from the male as he took a moment to gather himself, her mind soon following her wandering eyes as it settled into some silent musing, curious as to where she'd be able to snatch a quick snack without exerting too much energy. While she was more than capable of putting in the effort of tracking, stalking, and hunting down some prey for herself, time had progressed to that point of the day when she always felt particularly lazy. As the male finally piped up again and began interrogating her about the curious powers she possessed, a sly thought eased into her mind. Those bright green sights found their way back to Tai as he waved his paw at her desperately searching for answers, and something akin to a Cheshire smile eased to her felid features.

"Do not questian the tings dat cannah be explained. We are all differant creachas and we were all someting before we became noting in dis place." Her words were beyond cryptic and were fully intended to confuse him further. She took a long stride forward and closed the space between them to the point where just an inch or so separated their noses, her whiskers twitching slightly as they ever so lightly brushed against his own. "What happuned to you ees exactly wat happuned to you and eet is only a measha of someting greatah, someting you do not want to trifle with." Leaning back slightly, she widened the space between them, craning her neck up slightly to tower over him in an almost intimidating manner, as if to put in him in his place. It was, however, nothing of the sort, and she was only toying with him, as she was oft to do with everyone.

"Bury your snack and come." Her head moved in a motion toward the deeper forest where some more substantial prey was likely to dwell. As she turned away from him, her long sleek body followed fluidly along with it. Even her tail seemed to move with some inherent grace she wasn't even aware of, as if it was simply ingrained within her very core, second nature. "You should try someting biggar. Someting with more fight." She moved a few paces ahead of him as she waited for him to hide the squirrel, those large triangular ears pivoting atop her head in alternate directions as she tuned in to his movement and those of the threes ahead, attempting to zero in on any sound of movement. With any luck, she could get the male to do her hunting for her purely to save her the effort. If he learned anything from her before, she could only hope he'd put it into practice.