Sometimes her father was absolutely infuriating. When was the last time he had bothered to hunt anything for himself? A growl escaped Delphi's lips even as her teeth clenched hard around the leg of the small deer-thing. In all their wandering they had seen dozens of beasts suited to a solo (or even duo) kill and she had never bothered to learn the names of them from locals - she could pick any of them out by smell, though.

However, Niruzu the Rogue was an entirely different story.

With a sigh, the female dropped the dead beast as she at last pulled it within the safety of some tall reeds not far from the watering hole she had overtaken it at. The sun would be down completely soon and her father would find her here, just like she had asked him to when they parted in the morning. She was sure he would praise how well she blended into the twilight again and talk her up as he stuffed his mouth full of her hard work but as she stared down at the empty face of the beast she still couldn't bring herself to hate him for it.

Her musings over her need to earn her father's approval were cut short by a nearby rustle. Her pale eyes snapped up and found a face staring back at her, teeth bared and grin wide. At first glance the female looked outright mad - she was grinning so widely that it almost looked like her jaw had been dislocated and her eyes were the color of blood. Delphi should have been more afraid but right now, angry and fed up as she felt, she let her growl rumble deep and low as she moved to stand in front of her kill.

"I'll rip your throat out you filthy ******** scavenger," her words were as sharp as a razor and as she lashed out with them, the female that stood only a few paces away.. flinched.

In fact, Lamia hadn't wanted anything to do with that female's kill at all! Her bloody eyes shifted past her dark pelt to the pool of water that was still and inviting behind her. She had gotten so lost that she hadn't seen a watering hole for days and she was certain that if she did not get to one soon she was going to fall down right where she stood. Thankfully the night was coming, but in the morning? She couldn't afford not to try..

"No, I just want to-" her voice was quiet and the pale-eyed lioness had no trouble cutting it off with a resounding growl.

"No. You have one more chance to turn and walk away or I will make sure the vultures are fat on your thick hide come morning."

That sent a tremor through her and she flinched again, ducking her head low.

"Please, I just-"

They weren't words that answered her then. Those pale eyes went wide and a warning roar errupted from between those very real, very bloodied teeth. Lamia felt her fear root her to the spot - her options were fight or flight but even as her adrenaline soared through her body she couldn't move. Every logical thought, every sensible reaction, was tangled up beneath a cold claw that knocked the wind right out of her.

So be it.

Delphi sprang forward like a bird unleashed from its bonds, closing the distance between them so quickly that Lamia scarcely had time to blink before she was so close that Lamia could see the shock of brilliant, yellow tresses above her dark face. She came back to herself as she stared face-to-face with that and managed to dodge an outstretched, claw-splayed swipe at her own jester's smile. In that moment her panic response finally kicked in and Lamia chose flight with every breath she was struggling to draw through her abused throat and into her aching lungs. Her back paws dug deep into the muddy ground before she, at last, sprung forward and away from the other female.

The last thing she saw was Delphi gathering herself and springing after her. Lamia turned her eyes ahead of her path and pumped her dark, spider-webbed legs as hard as they could possibly go. She didn't feel the ground beneath her paws or hear the sound of the feet that most assuredly beat against the same earth in her wake. All she knew was running, fast and far and frantically.

Delphi stopped a few yards short of her kill and watched as the intruder blundered off into the distance as fast as her legs could carry her. She should have felt bad for snapping first and asking questions later but she didn't. This was her food and she had long since learned that in the rogue lands, only the strongest survived. She turned away from the sight of the dark female only when she was so far in the distance she could barely see her through the failing light of day. As she turned around and began to head back to her kill, she was hardly surprised to see the sight of the old, familiar white pelt half-stuck between the reeds.

Her pale eyes rolled as she sat down and watched his back legs shift with each strip of flesh he pulled away from the beast too-well hidden for her to really see. Whatever concern he had for the intruder must have been so far down on his give-a-s**t scale that he couldn't even be bothered to see if his favorite daughter was okay. Either he didn't care or he hadn't felt like the other female was a threat; she knew he was a selfish brute but she liked to think that maybe, just maybe, it was the later.

"Thanks for helping," she chimed at him and, without even picking his head up to look at her, a gruff voice answered through a mouth full of meat: "It looked like you were handling it just fine, sunshine."

Despite herself, she smiled and shook her head all at once. Sometimes she wished could hate the old oaf but really, she was just happy he had survived the day alone. He showed his love in very, very subtle ways - so subtle that it almost seemed like he had none at all.

"You're welcome," she muttered as she settled in to wait for him out of respect. She didn't expect any other response. She never did from him.

(Slightly backlogged; 1,083 words)