Somedays it felt odd traveling without their mother, Miarel thought as she stuck closely beside her brother. Their mother had always been cautious and protective of her and her brother. She swore that their father's blood made them restless. Most of the time, she did not think about her mother, but in cases like today, when her stomach felt empty, she could not help but miss her mother.
The area the siblings were in was an area they had never traveled. Dense trees and plant life covered the area. It was the type of place where prey could hide, but hopefully it was also an area that would have plenty of them to hunt down.
“Do you spot anything yet sister?” Luris asked, glancing over at her, impatience in his eyes. He had been the one who was eager to 'leave the nest'. As eager as they both were to explore the world, Miarel could not help but feel like they still had more that they could have learned from their mother. But that was in the past and it was time to move forward.
“Not yet brother. If I do see something you will be the first to know.” Miarel said with a snicker in her voice.
“Just be sure not to alert them like last time,” he said with a grin.
Miarel was about to say a comeback when she heard the snapping of a twig. Both cheetahs stopped, frozen where they stood and looked around. Slowly the moved their heads looking around the forest for what made the noise. The danger of traveling in such a small group was that they knew that they were easy targets.
“To our left sister, do you see?” Luris voice was as quiet as rustling leafs.
She looked slowly in the direction, looking carefully at the bushes. Then she saw red eyes that could have been easily mistaken for red berries. “What should we do brother?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the bushes. Right now it was just one pair and she hoped that they were alone.
“On the count of three we run as fast as we can. If we need to we will split up.” Luris said and she nodded her heard. “One, Two, Three!” And the two cheetahs darted away from the eyes.
Akuva should have been more careful. The two cheetahs he had been stalking since they entered the jungle were noticed him. It wasn't a surprise, but he was disappointed in his own skills. Despite the fact that his pelt did not contain natural colors, he had always been decent at being stealthy.
He first spotted the cheetahs enter the forest and instantly became interested in the duo. It had been days since his last good fight and the last one ended almost as soon as they started. Two on one though would have proven to be interesting. However when he was able to get a close inspection he was disappointed to see that they both seemed malnourished. Fighting and killing them would be ultimately the same as fighting a cub. They showed how weak they were by fleeing at the first sign of danger.
Still, Akuva was not one who allowed others to go to waste. If they could not be used to sedate his craving for fighting and blood, then they could be useful in other ways.
He stood up and got out of his hiding spot. In the far distance he could see the cheetahs running away. He wondered how far they would get before running into the forest unfavorable obstacles. With a wide grin, he began his pursuit.
His sister was just a head of him. This was not how he expected this hunting adventure to go. Right now they weren't even sure what they were running from. Their mother had always warned him and his sister to stay away from strangers. She was untrusting of everyone and that rubbed off on him. He would rather be safe then sorry though.
As they ran, Luris felt something tighten around his back leg. Before he could look, he felt it tighten and pull him back, causing him to fall head first into the ground. He let out a growl of pain.
Miarel stopped and went back toward him. “Your foot got tied up in some vines,” she stated, looking at it closely. With her claws, she carefully cut away the vines. Gently she brushed her paw against his leg where the vines had been. He clenched his jaw when she did so. “You should try and stand on it. I need to know how badly you are hurt.” Her tone was serious. Luris wondered just how bad it was.
Slowly he got up. The moment he put weight on his leg, he felt a sharp pain go up it. He stayed quiet, but showed his pain on his face.
“We should find somewhere to hide. I want to take a better look at your leg before we travel further.” She said.
Before Luris could argue, they heard the sound of someone traveling through the jungle. Loud, steps were quickly heading their way.
“Go hide. I can be a distraction.” Luris hissed. “Watch from somewhere. Maybe we have the wrong idea about whatever has been following us.” He pretended to be optimistic for Miarel. She hesitated, but nodded her head. If she had to, she could maybe do a sneak attack. She ran away from the noise and found a spot she could see her brother but hopefully would remain hidden.
A game of hide n seek was no fun when the seekers were lousy hiders, Akuva thought as he approached one of the cheetahs. The cheetah was hardly able to stand. One of his back legs seemed to shake, not out of fear but pain.
Akuva circled around the pale cheetah, looking him over from toes to tail. There was no use fighting him. The poor thing probably could not even handle three strikes. He would make a useless pack mule and by the looks of him was a pathetic hunter.
“Tell me cheetah do you have any use?” he asked, stopping in front of the cheetah to watch him. He stayed alert just in case the other cheetah showed up.
Luris did not move as the lion looked him over. What could he do. In his current state, he could not outrun the lion. His best bet was wait for Miarel to help him or pray to the gods that some sort of miracle happened.
“Uses? Hm my mother told me that I am a decent dancer. Though at this point, it would be a bit difficult for me to do that.” He said in a calm manner. Miarel should be safely hidden by now. “What about you? Pretty good at stalking others. But that sort of talent probably doesn't make many friends.”
To Luris' relief, the lion cracked a smile. “So it seems you are good for entertainment cheetah. It has been a while since I had someone around who was entertaining. If you want to continue living I suggest that you stay close to me. This forest is a dangerous place. I have seen creatures must stronger then you come here and end up as nothing more then corpse rotting on the ground being picked apart by scavengers.”
Luris stepped away from the lion. “I think I would rather take the risk and travel alone.”
“There's that humor again. I am not giving you a choice. If you do not follow me I will be leaving your corpse on the ground for your little companion to find. I felt merciful after seeing your condition. I am being generous. The choice is yours cheetah.” Akuva spoke with a low growl in his voice.
Luris' legs began to tremble this time in fear. He folded his ears back and looked away from the lion. There was not a lot of options. Miarel hadn't acted yet, which he was certain was a good thing. At this point he wasn't sure there was anything they could do against the lion. He cleared his throat, hoping that Miarel would notice.
“In exchange for sparing my life, maybe I could take you to a pond I found. It is outside the forest about two or three days travel from here. There is some prey there, enough hopefully for the both of us, or at the very least enough for just you.” He spoke clearly.
Akuva raised one of his eye brows at Miarel. “Interesting cheetah. How about this. You take me there and you will hunt for me.” He glanced over in Miarel's general direction. “And if someone were to show up and try to duel me I would accept. If they win I will gladly hand you over unharmed. And if they lose. Well we can decide on that later.” He looked back at Luris.
“Of course if no one shows up then you are just stuck with me until I grow bored of you.”
Luris did not want to know what would happen to him if Akuva got bored. He slowly headed away, Akuva not far from him. Hopefully he would give Miarel enough time to come up with a plan.
Miarel waited for longer then she probably needed. She knew the pond that Luris talked about. They had stayed there for a couple days just to check the area out. The hunting there was not that great because other creatures much larger then them used the area to hunt.
She jumped down and examined the area. Most of what they said, she heard. While hidden there had been a couple times where she almost darted at the lion when she felt Luris was in danger. She forced herself to think rationally though. At the pond there were other creatures she could ask for help from. It was a stretch, but there wasn't anyone she could turn to.
The worst case scenario was if she found no one to help her, she would have to fight the lion herself. A fight she would surely lose. She paced in the area, trying to come up with another idea. Maybe she could sneak her brother away at night, she thought. There were better chances of saving him that way then her fighting.
'First lets see what the options are at the pond. Maybe the gods will send someone to help me,' she thought optimistically. Luckily she had some time to think over a plan on the way there.
WC: 1,775