call of the wild [open]

[Bailey]

It was early morning as she stalked through the forest quietly. Her paws barely made a sound on the pine needle covered ground. Bailey's golden eyes were constantly surveying her surroundings. She had to be on the lookout at all times these days, you never knew when a tiger was going to make an attempt on your pride lands. She was out in the forest this morning for two reasons, protecting the borders and if a meal happened to walk by that would be pretty nice too.

She heard a rustling sound to her left and immediately stilled, crouching low to the earth. Bailey moved slowly to some brush and watched as a young doe wandered by. The deer did not seem to know where it was, it seemed too young to be alone yet. Perfect. After keeping her patience for a bit she lunged out from the bushes. Her powerful legs propelled her forward allowing her to catch up with the doe and sink her claws into it. Bailey brought the smaller animal down with ease, ending its misery in seconds.

Well this turned out to be a better morning than she thought, now she had a meal to keep her satisfied before going patrolling along the borders all day. She reminded herself she would need to drag the kill back to a spot closer for the rest of the pride to reach it as well.

[ozz]

Image to flickr.com

X. The scent of blood caught his attention, just as it would with any other predator in the area. The needles beneath his paws were uncomfortable as they moved under his foot, giving his balance just a tiny bit of waver, and secretly, he hoped he wouldn't have to make a run from it on footing like this. The trees soared above his head, and the very early light of the dawn was just filtering through the trees, brushing everything with darker shades, that were quickly becoming lighter. Originally, he had been doing nothing more than looking for something to eat this early in the morning, something that would be small enough to eat quickly, and with minimal contest. He wasn't greedy, but Xerxes just had his moments where he'd like his privacy.

X.The kinked tail swished behind him, and he could feel the faint dew weighing down his mane as he walked, towards the smell of fresh meat, a meal. Though, it would mean that he'd have to play nice with someone if he wanted a bite. However, as he came into sight of the lioness, and the size of her meal, he could feel his mood sour, just slightly. There wasn't that much on the poor beast, it wouldn't feed more than a couple lions, with it's still winter weighted body. Still food was food, if you thought about it that way.

X.He stopped, blue eyes keen, as he lowered his head, nostrils flaring as he took in the scent of the other feline, and the doe's body. He wasn't starving, just a little peckish, he'd taken down a young stag a day ago, so it wasn't a pressing issue. With a lowering of his gaze slightly before raising them to the sight before him, the blue darker in the early morning. He'd keep his distance, he wasn't one to run others off of what was theirs, after all, you keep what you kill.

[Bailey]

Tearing off the fur was always her least favorite part. Some lions would greedily dive in and ignore it, however she was a decent enough hunter to be a little picky. She loathed swallowing hair balls and thus removed any from the area she was eating from. It only took a little while since her prey was small and rather malnourished causing its coat to not be as thick. Bailey dug in, sufficiently drenching her muzzle in a coat of deep red. Once you were no longer penned up eating sliced meat, satisfying your hunger tended to be messy and she loved every second of it.

It was all a big package deal of being in the wild and Bailey would not trade any part of it. Her freedom was everything, it was what she fought for when the humans foolishly locked her up...she had the scars to show for it too. The breeze shifted slightly and brought a new scent along with it. The lioness paused consuming her meal and crouched protectively by her meal. She knew it would be a lion emerging from the trees but who? If it was one of those pesky Partier lions she would run them off in a second.

Instead it was a dark maned male she was sure she had seen a few times before. They had never had a real conversation but things had been pretty hectic since pride lands were still being established even now. Things were tense between the groups here which left little time to relax and chat. But simply knowing he was apart of Sursum made her lose the tense posture she held. Bailey straightened up and looked over the male with her golden eyes. He seemed a little older than her which also meant he had known what life with humans was like. Some younger cats barely remembered it. She shifted to the side bit, giving him room to approach the kill if he pleased.

The lioness might have her faults but sharing with her pride was not one of them. They were a working unit, and every part of that unit needed to be well fed in order to function.

"You can have some if you want. What's your name anyways? Mine's Bailey."

She offered, not the least bit shy to get a conversation going with him.