[PRP] Skill Over Size (Samar & Baiardo)

[Hattaki]

Bright African sunlight was hard to hide a dark pelt in, it simply didn't meld and hide among the sunbleached grass as much as could be hoped and Samar certainly hoped that it could for just a bit. Her stomach had been growling for days and days and before all strength was sapped from her lithe body she was determined to find food of any kind. Being who she was that flew in the face of her beliefs, but the cheetah was willing to make an exception to her traditional vein of thinking if it meant survival, as she had a feeling that she would be forgiven for the desire to continue living and pursuing her ideals.

Taking a moment to lie down and feel the ground beneath her paws, the way that the dirt moved and the grass bent, breathing leveling out as she came to listen and attune herself to the surrounding savannah's motions. Sounds of hooves and paws met her ears and it took some amount of concentration to narrow down exactly what belonged to what before she was willing to rise from her prone position and dart swiftly behind a large brush. Orange eyes widening as they peered out between the short branches she scanned to try and locate the new position of the hoofed creatures she'd heard moving not far off, deeming them much likelier to be an easy catch. Cheetah's throughout time had managed to take down gazelle and klipspringer, these did not at all sound large enough to be waterbuck and the sight of the gazelle racing across the stretch of plains before her proved her correct.

Not taking pride in the moment on principal that it would degrade her own hunting skills to think of it as a win, Samar shifted on her feet and rolled her shoulders, prepared to attack. Something changed her pose instantly, however, a scent that had her braced for something far larger than a playful gazelle that was simply racing it's friends. Both ears on her head twisted to the sides and her breathing all but stopped dead in her chest as she held the last breath she was going to use to take flight over the grass.

Dangerous things approached, but she was faster.

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[magnadearel]

Hattaki

Baiardo was not the fastest moving thing out today. Not by a long shot. In fact the lion was plodding slowly. Many times he'd asked himself why he carried on. Each time he couldn't find an answer. Baiardo simply didn't care anymore about anything. He had no where to go and no place to return to. He was a mercenary without a cause. In other words, useless.

His training wouldn't let him lower his guard though. He noted everything around him, even if he didn't care about it, and ignored everything that left him alone. That was the way he wanted it to be now. Baiardo noted the dark cheetah trying to hunt and felt a tiny bit bad that he'd probably ruined it with his presence. Other than noting her position, he passed far enough to the side to show her he wasn't the least bit interested in her. She could probably resume her hunt once he was out of the immediate area. If she kept a low profile the prey would probably forget she was even there since their attention would be on the visible lion. He hoped that helped her a little bit.  

[Hattaki]

Muscles tense and orange eyes narrowed Samar finally caught sight of the creature that was giving her such pause. The lion was large, much larger than her tiny stature which was small even for a cheetah, he was someone that she wouldn't want to mess with, but all the same he seemed to be giving her a wide berth. That in itself was nice and calmed her a bit, at least until she felt the scrambling and shaking of many feet pounding on the ground.

Gazelle did not make that noise, they weren't heavy enough to make the ground shake. Only one hoofed creature was heavy enough for her to say for certain that it could make this happen and as her eyes turned to see the gazelle scatter before the surge.

How had she missed them? How had the lion missed them? Certainly the stampeding beasts had been coming for some time, unless something in the distance had just recently spooked them. Samar didn't care either way what it was, her slim form darted across the grass and towards the large lion, her voice yelling to him over the slowly rising thunder of so many hooves.

"Trees! To the trees!" Samar screamed, her normally gentle and often unused voice burst from her as her lithe body contracted and surged towards the painted lion.

What on earth was happening that these beasts had begun to stampede!

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