Calm Before the Storm (Private)

[Akinai]

Kaya lazily stretched out her form on the savannah grass, enjoying the warmth from the sun's rays. Today had been a lazy day, like so many others since she had joined this pack. Sure, there were rough days where food was scarce or a few of the members fought, but wasn't it the same anywhere else? Hunting was never easy for her, especially during the day when her black fur coat stuck out like a sore thumb on the landscape, but with the help of her friends she was in no danger of starving.

Still...there were some days where it felt like she was unneeded.

Out of habit more than anything else, the Ethiopian wolf looked about the general area to see who of the pack was currently present. Lying underneath a lone tree about fifty feet away, a few forms lounged in the shade. A jackal, his coat possessing a mainly black hue with red markings near the tips of his ears, was speaking to a serval with a forest-green pelt. Whatever the jackal had said, it had caused his friend to grin back in reply. Hidden almost out of sight off to the side of the two was a light blue fennec, not looking over at the other two but his ears were raised in attention.

Maybe I should join them over there. They're probably speaking of something fun over there, judging from the way Dian is grinning at Arc, Kaya mused, her interest on the group. For a moment, Arc looked over at her before he continued speaking to the serval. The fennec, Zeke, seemed oblivious that they were being watched.


Or I could just stay over here. Kaya's ears flattened in annoyance, irritated to see that she was being ignored. It had been a while since they had started to selectively overlook her presence, and she was nearly tempted to walk over and snap at one or all of them. The fact that she had been failing her last few solo hunts lately did not help her mood at all as well. Maybe in time it would get better, but for now she wished it was possible to just knock them all over with one strong gust of wind.

[Zorayda]

Fadhila flicked her tail lazily as the sun's golden rays touched her pale fur. It was an unproductive sort of day--her pack (or pride, as she called it) were scattered about the flat plains, some taking shelter beneath acacias, others sprawled unceremoniously on the savannah grasses and enjoying the sun on their bellies. A small group of canids sat off to the side, talking and laughing. Fadhila couldn't see who all of them were, but she did see telltale red ear-tips she recognized. The lioness's sharp eyes also saw another dark shape near them, standing off to the side. Cocking her head slightly and wondering who would stay by themselves instead of joining a conversation, Fadhila pondered whether or not she should go over to the figure. 

A flash of glossy raven fur across the lone wolf's body made Fadhila realize that it was Kaya--a newer pack member who was still working on becoming a fully accepted member. Not having the same standoffish traits of a wolf, the lioness got to her paws and stretched leisurely. A few bones popped comfortably, eliciting a contented sigh from the cat, before she trotted easily over to the Ethiopian wolf with a small smile on her face.

"Hey there, Kaya," Fadhila greeted warmly. She wanted to start chatting immediately, but the lioness held off--Kaya was averse to too much loudness, and Fadhila's natural bubbly nature could be a bit abrasive to those who preferred a calm environment. Her greenish eyes flicked to where the small group sat and talked, but made no comment about them and instead settled down near Kaya. 

Farther off, another wolf lay quiet in the grass, more naturally hidden by his lighter fur. He, too, suffered a bit of snubbing from many in their pack, but not because he was new--quite the contrary, in fact. Nguvu, the young Ethiopian wolf, was simply socially awkward and shy. Not by choice, as Kaya was, but because he was incapable of proper interaction. Rumored, too, were his bouts of aggression and anger that bubbled easily to the surface, especially when the subject of his mother was brought up. These outbursts had caused the young wolf to keep his head down, as he did now--but he perked up a bit when he saw Fadhila wander over to Kaya and sit nearby casually. The lioness was a naturally social animal, and so she always sought out company. Strange that she'd choose Kaya, who was known for keeping to herself, but Nguvu guessed it must have been a girl thing. He sighed and lowered his head back down to his paws, ears tilting back slightly.

[Akinai]

Lost in her own thoughts, Kaya had failed to notice that one of the other pack members had made their way over to her. It wasn't until the young lioness spoke that she noticed; startled that someone had approached without her notice, it was hard to not jump up in shock.

“Oh, hi,” she began, then froze. Crud, what was her name again? I'm terrible with names... Realizing that this pale lioness was likely waiting for more of a response, Kaya tried to shrug it off. “Nice day, right? Seems like everyone just wants to relax and have a good time.” Not knowing what else to say, the young wolf's gaze trailed back to the tree for a moment before her brain finally reminded her that the feline was still present and now sitting next to her. “Sorry, I'm not much for talking.”

[Zorayda]

Fadhila nodded at Kaya´s comment with a small smile. The wolf really was a bit unused to a lot of chat if she had to bring up the weather just for small talk. Resisting the urge to chuckle, the lioness nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it really is nice out today. The heat makes me feel a little lazy," Fadhila commented in reply, yawning as if to prove her point. At Kaya's comment about not being a talker, Fadhila actually did laugh out loud. "Oh, no worries! I'm such a chatterbox myself that you probably won't even need to talk all that much if I'm around. There was this one time I talked for so long to Kita--that crotchety old jackal over there--that she fell asleep, and I didn't even notice til ten minutes later." The pale lioness gave Kaya a grin.

"So long as you can handle my chatty tendencies, I can handle your lack of 'em."

_{Sent from my LGMS659 using proboards}

[Akinai]

When the lioness began to laugh, Kaya's ears automatically went back as she figured that she was being laughed at for her awkwardness. Upon hearing that the feline was merely talking about a prior situation though she allowed herself to relax. The wolf even smirked when she even got to the part about one of the pack members falling asleep without notice. “Really now, ten minutes? It couldn't have been that long,” she remarked.

“I don't mind listening, though I'm kinda curious why you walked over here. Nothing interesting going on over here, unless you wanted to watch the Fantastic Three over there,” Kaya said, tilting her head over towards the tree where the three canids were still chatting. “I think there's still a few other members hiding about here, but I think the rest are on the hunt.” She took another scan across the grass, surprised to see another form not far off lurking in the grass. It looked to be an Ethiopian wolf, like her, but he didn't look interested in showing himself just yet. Some actually hiding it looks like. Respecting his privacy for now- if he kept eavesdropping she would quickly try to shoo him away- Kaya looked back over at the pale lioness. “If you just wanted someone to talk to I'm all ears, not like there's anything else to do until the others return.”

[Zorayda]

(Plot device maybe? >.> Also, short post is short. Sorry D:)

When Nguvu saw Kaya turn his way, his breathing quickened and he ducked further into the grasses. 'Did she see me? Oh man, I must look so weird,' he thought anxiously. But when he looked back, she'd already engaged in further conversation with the large lioness next to her. Apparently either she didn't notice him, or she'd deemed him unimportant enough to ignore. The wolf wasn't sure which he liked better.

Fadhila cocked her head a bit when Kaya dismissed herself as being interesting, essentially. She shook her head with a small smile and looked over at the three wolves talked together, and was about to open her mouth to make a comment when a sound called out in the quiet. It sounded like a scream--like someone was in pain. The noise sent Fadhila's fur standing along her spine and she jumped to her paws, claws extending.

"What was that?" She asked, voice shaky. It sounded like it came from where the others were hunting...

[Akinai]

As the sound of screaming traveled across the field, the noise prompted multiple reactions. The trio of animals near the tree immediately ceased their chatter and turned their heads to the south, where the sound originated. Arc had already assumed an aggressive stance, looking ready to dart towards battle at any moment. The serval and fennec, on the other hand, were slower to rise, the two of them sharing the same worried expression.

Kaya's reaction was to rise with a start, backing away from the noise. Judging from the yowling, the noise wasn't caused by some idiot who had decided to drag half-dead prey back to the pack... unless for some reason they had all decided to hunt their own kind. Someone had been injured during the hunt, and badly.

Two pack members half-dragged one of their own back towards home, the two canids barely managing to keep the feline they supported upright while limping from their own wounds. The injured, a young female cheetah whose name escaped Kaya at the moment, was trying her best to move paw by paw. A deep gash marred the side of her head, with the nearby ear torn as well.

Upon seeing the injured group, the pack leader rose to quickly meet them. Dyne was a formidable sight even on a normal day, due to the jackal's blood-red fur and impressive size for his species. When faced with a possible threat to his pack, he was near terrifying. “Who attacked you,” the jackal curtly asked. “Has a rogue moved into our lands?”

“Not unless rogues are traveling in groups now,” the cheetah faintly replied. Her packmates had released her, and the feline sank down into the grass. “At least seven of them ambushed us as we took down our prey, demanding that we hand it over.”

At this close a distance, Kaya could see that the cheetah had a few dark scorch marks on her pelt, accompanied by the scent of charred flesh. One of the others nearby, a male hyena, was visibly shaking as if he had eaten something to make him violently ill. “I don't get it. These lands have belonged to your pack for a long time, right?” Kaya asked quietly.

[Zorayda]

Fadhila's jaw dropped at the sight of the female cheetah--a member of their mixed pride. She was hurt, badly, and her response to Dyne only served to further shock the pale lioness.

"S-seven...?" She whispered, voice cracking. At the sound of Kaya's question, Fadhila turned her ear towards her before making eye contact, nodding to confirm the answer. "It's been years since there's been any kind of threat. Nobody's invaded us because of our size," she managed, running off of facts and trying not to think of the implications of another pride attacking hers.

Nearby, Nguvu had overcome his shyness in the face of adversity, a deep scowl marring his features. Whoever had hurt his pride sister had much to answer for--and they really didn't want to see him when his anger bubbled to the surface. Several other pack members--a shy young leopard cub named Aza and her father Kune--stayed near the cheetah, using their unique powers of water healing to help her. They were the pack shamans, not as skilled as many advanced healers, but good enough to fix minor injuries and help major illness along. Kune turned his eyes to the cheetah female, seriousness and calm in his electric blue eyes.

"Listen to me. You need to lie down, and stay calm." Turning his gaze to Dyne, he nodded. "Ask her your questions, but try not to panic her. And you," he barked at the terrified male hyena, who snapped to attention. "Sit down and take calm breaths. Aza," at his word, his daughter trotted over to the hyena and curled her tail around him comfortingly and tended to his shock.

Fadhila watched this absently, still in disbelief. She exchanged a worried look with Kaya and whispered, "What do you think the pack will do next?"

[Akinai]

At hearing Fadhila's question, Kaya's expression turned uncertain. “Am I really the best one to ask? I'm not even a full pack member until Dyne says so,” the wolf replied. Having the nagging feeling that would not be enough of an answer for the lioness, Kaya gave a sigh and continued. “My family pack was out in the middle of nowhere. No one bothered us, so I would still have no idea what to do.” Even in advice, she could not offer much it seemed.

Dyne appeared to have taken offense at first from Kune's words, though the jackals expression turned from annoyance to indifference as he saw the healers work on healing the wounded. Instead, the pack leader gave a sharp bark as he called someone forth. “Arc! What do you make of this?”

The younger jackal approached forward with a start, sharing a glance with Zeke and Dian before padding over to Dyne. “I see no point for our packmates to lie. Someone clearly attacked them, and unless our prey can now harness the power of the elements there's no other explanation for their injuries.”

It was hard to argue against Arc's words. The gash on the young cheetah's head looked far too deep and clean to be caused by hoof, claw, or fang, and one of the nearby canids had significant scorch marks in his fur. As for the hyena that Aza was currently attending, he had suddenly sunk to the ground and a small amount of foam was coming out of his mouth. A scratch mark on his left hind leg was tinged a sickly violet color.

“Poison... cowards.” Dyne snarled, snapping his fangs in the air as if he was snapping the bones of one of the animals who had attacked them. A couple of the present pack members who employed poison in their attacks, Dian included, looked slightly offended at the leader's words. “It's fitting. A blight on our lands needs to be removed quickly.”

“But we don't even know how many of them there are,” Kaya quietly remarked, her words thankfully not heard by Dyne. There were already at least three unable to fight, and there were less than ten members in the pack able to fight. Plus, no one had mentioned bringing down any of the enemy before they had run away...

“Arc, I want you to bring a few of your pack brothers and sisters with you,” Dyne commanded, his steely gaze on no one but the other jackal. “Hunt down whoever attacked us, and wipe them out.”

“Yes, Uncle,” Arc replied, bowing his head. Seeing that Dyne had directed his attention towards questioning the injured cheetah (and likely dealing with an angered Kune in the process,) the black-furred jackal called out to the two waiting animals still waiting under the tree. “Zeke, Dian! You coming?”

As the fennec and serval walked forward, Kaya moved to intercept them, fear plain on her features. “I have to go with them. If anything happens to them--” her statement was cut off mid-sentence.

“To any full members of our pack, join me if you want to help destroy those who hurt our friends!” Arc called out, his eyes seeping to pierce all who looked his way. Oddly enough, his gaze seemed to effortlessly pass over the young Ethiopian wolf. “We will be leaving shortly.”