{PRP}Strange things fall from the sky

[magnadearel]

Talencia

Puteri'Punggung'Gebu plodded along. She wasn't going anywhere in particular. In fact she tended to switch directions randomly just for fun. She liked doing the unexpected. It did leave her at odd ends from time to time though. The leopardess sighed. Being random had its drawbacks. For one she had no one to talk to at the moment, unless she started talking to herself. Not something she really wanted to do.

It really was a fine day for a stroll. The sun warm along her back. There wasn't much going on, just a couple birds singing nearby. She was almost tempted to stop and listen. For a couple moments she did. It was lovely and pleasant to listen to them. Puteri wandered on a small strand of trees wasn't far away and she headed for it.

Maybe she should take a nap. The leopard pondered the idea for awhile. A tree would be a great place to nap. Unless something more interesting proved to be there. Galvanized by the possibility, she picked up her pace to a trot. Puteri was panting by the time she reached the trees. They had been further than they looked! She slowed under a tree to catch her breath.  

[Talencia]

Sasta had been traveling for a week or so. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Even in his own mind, it had been very nebulous. It had been a terribly awkward conversation, at least for him, when he'd tried to explain to his mother. She'd been as loving and gently understanding as ever, though, of course, and had sent him off with a nuzzle and a lick and asked only for his promise to be careful.

Truthfully, his heart had been so very heavy of late... so burdened as he'd never felt before. Perhaps it was because he was still young? He wasn't sure, but it felt at odds with his nature. He was not the mopey, unhappy sort. Not ever! But nowadays? It was harder to smile, and often was forced. It was a mask he put on rather than opening his heart to those around him. He needed to find... something. Something undefinable that would help him move on from his father's death, and the rearranging of his world. Something to remove the weight in his heart that simply would not go away.

Hunting wasn't really anything enjoyable currently, so he tended to go for larger prey when he could, in order to avoid having to hunt so often. Today he'd managed one of the many hooved creatures that roamed the lands, but he'd paid little attention to which kind. He'd dragged it up into a tree in the center of a copse, hidden from the world and the world hidden from him. He hadn't immediately set in to eating, though, and just lounged distractedly on the branch, his chin resting on his meal, both of them draped over a solid-looking branch.

He sat up when someone came panting into the grouping of trees. He sank his claws into the carcass and leaned over to peer downwards. A darker shape moved among the shadows below, and he leaned further to see better. A warning creak from the branch was all the warning he got. He jerked upright in alarm, which apparently was the last straw for the not-so-solid branch, and the next thing he knew, he and his kill both were careening downwards, end over end,  

[magnadearel]

Talencia

Lol poor Sasta!

Puteri didn't have much time to enjoy the shade. The tree above her gave an ominous creek just as she passed beneath one of the branches. She didn't have more than a moment to squawk inelegantly as a branch fell practically upon her. The leopard tried to avoid the worst as best she could. Luck would have it that the heaviest part of the branch missed her. However, the branch wasn't the only thing to fall.

A blur of some dead animal and another animal flashed in the corner of her eye before the pair landed atop her. She let out a grunt as she was squashed flat by all the weight. Try as she might to free herself though, she was stuck. How was she going to be random stuck under all this?! Puteri let out a caterwaul. "Will you get off?"  

[Talencia]

magnadearel

Sasta already felt ridiculous for having taken the tumble, but when he heard the squall of outrage from beneath himself and his kill, he was positively mortified. In his panic, he did the only thing he could think to do in order to free whomever it was he had fallen upon. He dove his head towards the nearest part of his dinner, sinking his teeth firmly into it, then sank all four paws worth of claws into the hide of his kill, then threw himself sideways.

The result hopefully managed to free the hapless victim of his malfortune, but it put him in a rather awkward and difficult position, for now he was nearly pinned under the carcass. It was one thing to drag it up a tree. It was quite another to have it sprawled inelegantly over him, with him on his back and with every available sharp point sunk into the thing, which now pressed downwards on him instead. He instantly felt horrid for having inflicted this and his own weight on somebody else. He managed to free his jaws enough to warble woefully, "Uh... could you maybe... help me with this? Please?"

Ugh, what a fool he must look!  

[magnadearel]

Talencia

<3

Puteri was stuck! She couldn't move, couldn't breath! Can't breathe! Can't breathe! Her mind raced frantically as her body struggled instinctively against the pressing weight above her. She sensed something shifting above her and the majority of that weight moved off.

The leopardess took a deep breath and squirmed the last of the way free. Once free, she checked all her limbs. Bruised but otherwise in tact. That was a lucky break. She eyed the large branch, then turned her attention to the animals that had fallen upon her.

One was decidedly deceased, and she was sure the fall hadn't been the thing to kill it. A voice spoke from under it and she flicked her ears in surprise. Well she'd just felt first paw how crushing weight could be. Politely she grabbed a foreleg of the prey and gave a great heave to pull it off the animal. Dropping it, she found herself looking at an elegantly marked and stripped male leopard. She did have a thing for stripes.  

[Talencia]

magnadearel

Freed from the burden of his dinner, Sasta let out a whoosh of air. "Whew, thanks! I think I might just stick with hares from now on!" He scrambled to his paws and gave the carcass a glare, ears canted backwards as if telling it off for being so heavy. He then flicked his gaze to his 'rescuer', then did a double-take. Such striking colors, and a girl, and a leopard!

"I... uh... owe you an apology, miss," he said sheepishly, ducking his head a little and giving her a boyish look of dismay, "and a thank you as well." He cleared his throat and looked from his kill to the fallen branch. "I seem to have miscalculated somewhere," he sighed, "and it cost you a squishing. I really am sorry." His earnestness could not be in doubt whatsoever, but that didn't always ensure the injured individual would be very forgiving. He sucked a soft breath and braced for whatever her reaction would be.  

[magnadearel]

Talencia

Puteri eyed the male with interest. Well now, it'd been quite awhile since she'd talked to another leopard, and male to boot. She chuckled softly at his joke about hares. Much too fast and more effort required to catch enough to keep her fed; granted he was probably joking about that. "Or pick your branch with better care next time."

She tilted her head and considered her options very carefully. Now she could rightly be upset and offended he'd decided to drop his branch, meal, and himself upon her poor unsuspecting self; or take it with good nature as the accident it was. It was too choice an opportunity to pass by. Puteri swept her tail side to side then smiled. "How about you make it up to me by inviting me to lunch and providing good conversation?"  

[Talencia]

magnadearel

Sasta brightened visibly at her suggestion, ears pricking happily at the idea. "That is a fantastic idea, ma'am," he declared with enthusiasm, not even noticing that his short time with her had already swung his mood from brooding to bright again. Maybe it was because she was a fellow leopard? Perhaps it was because she was female? Or it might even had been influenced by her lovely coloring and stripes. Whatever it was, he was oblivious to his change in attitude, since this was more of his natural state than the depression had been.

He gave her a gallant, if slightly comical, bow. "Greetings, my lady! My name is Sasta, and I will be your hunter for the afternoon. May I present you with your choices for lunch? Here we have a nicely muscled haunch, still warm! Or perhaps you prefer the more savory parts here in the belly? Very nutritious! If lean is more to your taste, may I recommend this shoulder as a start to your meal?" He flashed her a grin of camaraderie as he playfully offered her whatever she wanted from his kill, backing slightly to give her open access to all of the hooved creature. "Please, come and enjoy yourself. My... broken... branch...," he stumbled with a wry grin at her and the now grounded piece of wood, "is... yours?" Another cheesy grin was directed at her as he sat his haunches down against the branch and waited for her to feast.  

[magnadearel]

Talencia

Puteri was quite pleased with her choice at his eager acceptance. It was so nice to have decent company once again, for however short. Maybe she'd see how long he was willing to stay. That was just as random after all as walking off. After a moment of thought, she realized she'd been lucky. He might have blamed her for the branch falling, or been completely rude.

She pushed that thought away as he began speaking again. Puteri giggled. She couldn't help. He was just, so amusing, so charming. The leopardess groomed her shoulder for a moment to appear the "lady" he dubbed her, then she strolled over to examine his catch. "I am Puteri'Punggung'Gebu. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Sasta, even if you had to fall upon me to do so." She paused thoughtfully. "Actually I've never had a male fall for me." Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back her laugh from teasing him.

"A bit of haunch will be just fine." She eyed the branch warily for a moment, "I think I will have to pass upon that part. What brings you out this way besides the game?" Puteri settled by her selected section.  

[Talencia]

magnadearel

He listened with clear and apparent great interest as she introduced herself, and broke into a wide grin that culminated in a hearty laugh. Her name was so long and intriguing! He'd already forgotten a good portion of it, but was reasonably confident he'd be able to get her to pare it down for him to a shortened version she was comfortable with. It was her sense of humor that really thrilled him, though. It wasn't as easy as one might think to find someone in the roguelands who had a sense of humor similar to his!

He gestured for her to take her place at the haunch and moved himself to the slender but muscular neck. Her question, however, caught him a little off guard, though it shouldn't have. To buy himself some time, he sank his teeth into their meal and took a decent bite. He mulled while he chewed and swallowed, then opted for honesty.

"I don't know," he replied seriously to her finally, licking the blood from his pale chin. He stared down at his meal, unseeing. "I belong to a pride, the Kitwana'antara. But... my mother died. And things haven't seemed.... right... ever since." Just speaking of her death brought a dull surge of grief and a return of his unsettled feelings. He looked away from her, away from his kill, and through the trees around them out onto the open plain. "I guess I'm out here to find myself again." He was afraid to look at her, to see either dismissal or lack of understanding on her part of his struggles.

One moment he'd been happy, the next he was back in the shadows again. It was distressing, it was baffling, and it was frustrating. Yet again, he wondered if he'd ever be able to move beyond this maddening duality within himself.