Oji had been enjoying the peace and quiet of the day, nibbling idly on the juicy herb she'd found. Oh, it was heavenly with it's crisp texture and bright taste. There was nothing better in the world than finding a good piece of food! Well, the peace and quiet was appreciated too, she had to admit. Though she did miss Folami's company, the hare shuddered at the thought of seeing any blood. HOW predators could stand the sight, she would never know.
Nope, she would just wait over here for Folami to be done. The plains were quiet an empty anyway. It's not like Oji would run into any trouble.
So of course, trouble found her.
It occurred to Mángguo long after she'd left that lioness that she probably should have asked what this "Oji" person looked like. The jackal just assumed it was another lioness, but come to think of it, lions tended to travel with familiars, so he or she very well could be anything.
But she was fairly sure that she was traveling in the right direction. The lioness' scent came from this direction, so logically, Mango would run into them sooner or later.
And yeah, the bright pink rabbit was hard to miss.
The jackal's first instinct was to hunt. It was in her nature, after all, to hunt rodents, but the lioness' scent was coming from that hare. Nope, not food then. Tempting as it was, Mango knew better than to pay her rescuer back by killing her friend. It would be incredibly rude of her to do so! And Mango was not rude.
.... But easily excitable, she was.
Oji had had her eyes closed up until the scent of jackal reached her nose. An incredibly close scent too. She blinked open in alarm-
And then screamed in terror.
The black and orange form charging towards her was literally only a few feet away, and in sheer panic, Oji dropped the greens she'd been chewing on and bolted. Of course, NOW she needed Folami, and the lioness was nowhere to be seen.... and the direction she'd gone was the same direction this predator was coming from. No way of running for her then.
Ooooo, was this a game? Mangguo loved games! She loved chase!
She wouldn't hunt, no we've already gone over that, but chase was something she always loved doing! She used to play this game with Ren when he was younger. It was harder to play now that he was older and much, much bigger, but still, the game was fun.
A hare added a new challenge to this too. Chase, chase, chase! Fast chase too.
The jackal gave a happy yip and then bounded after the hare, completely oblivious to the stark scent of fear wafting off of her. The two wound in circles and zig-zags through the grass before Oji made a very fatal mistake: she ran up against the flat, sheer side of a large boulder, large enough that she couldn't move away from it.
She was going to die. She was too young to die! Goodbye, cruel world!
The hare tried to veer to the side, but it was no use. The last thing she heard was the triumphant yapping of the jackal before she felt something hard rush into her side. She hit the ground hard enough that the edges of her vision went black and she was pretty sure she was going to be bruised tomorrow.
Oji trembled terribly, completely sure that she was about to die, and had closed to eyes to prevent herself from witnessing it.
..... But then nothing happened. Nothing beyond....
.............. Wait, what was this jackal saying?
"I win! I win! Mango, one. Oji, zero! Ha ha ha ha ha!" She was hopping with her paws on either side of the hare's shoulders, not noticing the shaking or rigidness of the other. She was SO EXCITED to have beaten a rabbit! Not many jackals could claim the same.
Oh, OH, but she should get back on topic.
"Hello, missus rabbit!" Her tail seemed to be going a mile a minute behind her, "I found you, I found you!" She stepped backwards to crouch her front half to the ground, her butt wiggling in the air still. "I was told you could help me!"
Oji gaped at this... this.... pup that was making no move to eat her. No, instead she was acting like the hare, herself, was nothing more than a playmate. On that note, how did she know her name?! She'd never introduced herself!
..... And then it began to hit her, and Oji felt an infuriated calm wash over her. There was only one person she could think of who would decide that it was okay to send a bloody jackal in her direction.
Just to be completely sure though, she spoke up through gritted teeth. "Who told you I could help? And with what?"
Mango cocked her head to the side innocently, "Oh, a lioness called Folami did! She saved me when I almost drowned earlier today, and she said you could help me."
The jackal began hopping around in circles, still on a high from all the running they'd done. "I'm trying to find my friend and she said that she was probably with a pride near the coast and that they recently settled there and that you might know more about how to find them." She was rambling now, but she hardly cared.
Instead, she whipped around and gave the biggest puppy dog eyes she could manage. "Do you know what direction I need to go?"
Her eyelid twitched, and Oji was shaking again, though this time from rage. Oh, she was going to kill Folami for this. WHY WOULD SHE DECIDE TO SEND A JACKAL TO HER? Jackals ATE hares!
Screw the blood and gore from Fol's hunt, she was tracking that stupid lioness down and giving her a piece of her mind! But first, she needed to get rid of this pest-for-brains that had likely given her bruises that would ache for days.
With a grunt, Oji whipped a paw around to point in the direction of the coast. Oh yes, she knew of the pride that had settled there recently. It was the talk of the prey that they should be careful over there now. Also, the seagulls who wandered from there never shut up about it.
"That way," was all she said, before the hare began stalking off in the direction Folami had gone.
Mangguo didn't really notice the briskness of that exchange, so elated as she was to finally have a way to go. She was so close, she could feel it! With a cheerful yip, the jackal began trotting off towards the coast.
Look out, Renshu, Mango was almost there.