Perseus stretched and listened to something pop as she did so. For most that would be a sign they were getting old, for Perseus that was a sign she had a good life. She had run until she could not run anymore, playing with her mate as if they were cubs the day before, and now she was paying for it. Her legs burned, her joints popped and yet all the leopon could do was grin. This was what made life great.

The fluffy leopon gave herself a shake and stood tall surveying the area around her. Nothing seemed out of place, and the others around the pride were still sleeping, unless they were on night guard duty. It was the perfect time to go stretch her legs and think for a while. Maybe she would stay out all day, she did not have guard duty today. Maybe she would come back within a few hours when her mate was up. He was leaving today, so she could see him off. Who knew with Perseus? She certainly did not know at the moment, but she was better at planning ahead than she used to be.

With the pending departure of her mate, she was not likely to stay out too long. She wanted to be there to see him off when possible and was not sure he take her being gone when he got up very well anyway. Perhaps she would decide at some point to travel with her mate and guard his fluffy butt if the pride would let her, perhaps not. She was not sure yet if she had the disease that the pride was so fixated on, but she knew her mate was immune. Perseus did not mind staying behind to guard the pride while her mate was out, but sometimes it was too much time to herself; that was her agreement anyway.

Perseus smiled to herself as she padded through a small group of sleeping forms. Not everyone used dens on these nice nights. Some prefered sleeping under the stars and she could not blame them. Most of Perseus’ life before the pride had been sleeping under the stars. Traveling had not really been a good way to find a den every night for sleeping. One had to sleep where they were at the end of the day and some days that was in an empty den, and some days that was out in the open. It had been very different than here.

When the leopon had first come here, Perseus was not sure if she really wanted to stay in a pride. It was her dream before, but seeing it had been a bit scary. She dearly loved the company, though, and that had made it easier to adjust. The fact that the others needed healthy strong outsiders to help had made her feel needed too. Feeling like there was a PLACE for her in spite of being a hybrid had been such a wonderful feeling. Even her mate being a hybrid had not set her at complete ease before she got here.

Perseus was mindful of where she placed her paws as she crept. She did not wish to disturb anyone as she went. They needed their sleep, and she wanted to have some time to herself. If she was lucky she would be back before everyone woke. If not, she would be back shortly after. She was not too concerned, but she did decide now that she would not stay out all day. Time was not what really would matter in this, but she should be back to see off her dear sweet mate.

Skill, both in creeping out unnoticed by the others, and in catching one's prey, would be what truly counted today. Well, not entirely, if one thought about it. Perseus did have a nasty habit of charging and barreling her prey over when hunting. That was not really skill so much as dumb luck for a leopon. The female leopon would not admit to it being dumb luck, but it really was. She did not need to hunt, either, it was not her job, but she felt like stretching her hunting skills every now and again.

Perseus got to the edge of the sleeping forms and gave a smug grin to herself. Mission one accomplished, now onto mission two. She trotted out into the distance to find herself prey to hunt. Antelope and other such sized animals were a little big for a single leopon on her own to take, though Perseus had done it before. She would be better off sticking to something a bit smaller and just enjoy the hunt.

Perseus trotted along at a more brisk pace now that she was out of the danger zone on disturbing the others with the noise. She passed a few rocks and a tree along her way as well as a few guards. The fluffy leopon noted these as landmarks to get back to the pride more easily and nodded to the other guards. She also noted the direction she was traveling, of course, but having landmarks made it all the easier to find her way later, especially if she wandered too far.

There were some signs of herds nearby as she went and when she figured she was close enough she could hear them, she crouched down and started creeping slowly again. The grass where she was towered above her crouched form as she moved forward as silently as a shadow. One rather tiny herd of small antelope. There was an older buck lagging behind the others. The younger buck and females seemed more inclined to ignore the creature than anything else.

Perseus eyed up a few little ones and then went back to the older male. Best to take that if she could. The others were in too small a group to do much to protect the older male that was falling behind, but they were too clustered to be able to pick out the young without risking being trampled when they panicked. While Perseus might be willing to take a risk or two, she did not want to get hurt if it was able to be avoided. If this herd had been a bigger type of antelope, she would not even be giving them a second look.

Perseus waited and watched for a bit. She had to judge her strike for the right time. It would do no one any good if she charged too soon and missed her kill all together. The idea, after all, was to catch her prey even if she did not need to hunt for the pride. Missing just tired her out and gave her nothing to show for it. She especially did not want to get injured and have nothing to show for it. That would have been embarrassing and painful and gotten her laughed at by the hunters of the pride whom would remind her that she was guard not a hunter.

While she was watching, Perseus saw the gap between lag behind and others get just a little larger, and the older buck came right into a nice position for her to strike. The leopon prepared and sprang, sprinting for the target and giving a roar to warn off the rest of the herd. She missed the target completely. It would seem the old buck had enough life and spring left in him to run pretty fast. She knew she could not keep up with it, but she would chase it for a bit anyway. Then she would return to main the pride.