Roku gave a yawn as he plodded through the barren land he had found himself in. It wasn't... the most pleasant of places, he had to admit, but it was where his paws had taken him. With a grumble, the cheetah meandered uphill and then sighed as he noticed the sheer drop in front of him. No more walking forward then.
He had been wandering aimlessly for a while now, and he was beginning to wonder if he would ever find anything familiar to him again. It certainly didn't seem like it. Maybe he should be settling down, finding a mate and making a family....
But that was quitter's talk. And he didn't want to give up quite yet. Plus, who would want to stick around him? He wasn't the most exciting cheetah in the world.
As he began his descent down the side, the cheetah paused when he realized that something felt off. What started as boredum and nothingness had shifted into... hostility. And he didn't like it. A quick glance around him didn't yield any explanations as to why either, which left him wondering if he was simply imagining it.
Trespasser! And a pest too, at that. Eve was almost disappointed that it wasn't another lion. At least then it would have been a challenge.
Her off-white coat may not have been ideal colors for her pride, but it certainly helped her in blending in around here. The lowly cur had yet to notice her stalking up on it. With silent paws, the lioness slunk low to the ground, tiptoeing her way closer to it's backside.
And then she froze as it seemed to finally realize something was wrong. Like prey, it looked around with uncertain eyes, mind trying to comprehend the danger it was in, but she knew that like all prey, it would fail to react fast enough. She was already within mere pawsteps of it.
But she would need to act now, before it did do something.
With a fierce roar, Eve leapt through the air and swiped at it's flank.
Roku let out a yowl as the blow came at his side, sending him flying forwards and almost careening off the cliff. Luckily for him, he had managed to cling to the ground before he got too close. What had hit him?! He barely had time to register the white paw flying towards his face before he was ducking to the right and scrambling to try and gain some distance from his attacker.
"What are you doing?!" There was no stopping the onslaught of claws vying for his blood, and speaking of, he winced as he realized that his side from bleeding from that initial hit. It stung uncomfortably but adrenaline pushed him to stay focused on this new enemy.
He was surprised to note that it was a lioness, a rather slender one with a thick covering of fur around her shoulders.
Eve let out an aggressive hiss, almost mocking in her tone, "You've crossed into the wrong borders, little pest." She let out a rumble, a sneer growing across her face, "Inferior prey like you should know better, but then, you're not really the smartest of creatures."
The cheetah blinked at her words, startled at how high-pitched her voice was, before offence bubbled up in him at her words. Inferior?! Who did this lioness think she was!
He was brought back to some of the things Aislin explained to him while he had been traveling with her. He needed to be careful around lions, especially those in prides. Not all lions will be as tolerant as I am, he remembered her saying. Was this what she had meant? He should have been paying more attention to where he'd been going, but he hadn't smelled any scent markers! How was he to know that there was a pride living here?
Not that it mattered at the moment, he realized as she lunged at him once more. "W-wai-" He ducked another slash of sharp claws, this time directed at his throat. She was out to kill him! Clearly, she wasn't going to let him get a word in edge-wise. Panic raced through him as he swung himself out of the way. He knew that, as a cheetah, he didn't have the strength to fight a lion - even a lioness - head on... but he did have other tricks up his sleeve.
Despite her fierce attacks, she was musing over where she would put it's pelt afterwards. For a feline similar to herself, it sure was scrawny. Barely worth the effort, but it would be nice to have a trophy, maybe even a nice rug to sleep on. And she could tell the experience later on to the next batch of cubs she was nannying. They would love to hear of the types of creatures they may come across.
Or at least, those were the thoughts running through her head before it suddenly, and wholly unexpectedly, tossed itself off the side of the cliff.
Shock colored Eve's face at that. Who... what?! Padding over to the edge, she stared down to see this creature's death, only to scowl as she realized that he was... he was running down it?!
With a snarl, she roared furiously, but wasn't quite willing to dive down after it. It was heading in the direction of the borders again anyway. By the time she made it down there, it would have already exited the Outlands.
... It was just as well, she supposed, with her demeanor finally beginning to cool off. With a smug smirk, she internally preened at herself over having defended her pride's territory, and then sat down to watch the pest flee.
Honestly, it had been a gamble to begin with, but Rokusasu was thankful that it had paid off. His paws felt clumsy as he partially ran, partially slide down the side of the hill, and he prayed that he wouldn't trip and fall the rest of the way down. As the land began to even back out though, he gave a triumphant huff and began picking up speed.
Let's see that crazy lioness catch him now! He was a cheetah, and speed was his ally. He didn't try to turn and see if she was chasing him. Frankly, he just wanted to high-tail it out of there, especially wounded as he was.
So that's what he did.... with a mental note to never come this way again.