Surivival of the Fittest [Closed :: Jaspayia]

[Anpu]

Spring 40th 512AV

Anpu shivered as he dropped to his knees on a dune, it was getting colder out in the open air and he didn't have much in the way of shelter, he could just shift into his animal form and feel more comfortable, but that would defeat the purpose of this exercise. The Kelvic ignored the dropping temperature as much as he could as he took to getting his body moving.

With the sun dropping all Anpu had to worry about was keeping warm... And not being eaten. At least, that is what he thinks. Anpu knew there was other inhabitants of the desert out there, but the young Jackal never seen any of the blasted dwellers outside of the city walls.

Dig! Quit thinking and shivering and Dig Instinct was clawing its way into the forefront of Anpu's conscience so dig he did. There was nothing more important than survival and the best way to survive was instinct... And Anpu was just full of instinct.

Den. Dig. Den. Dig. Dig. Dig. So the Kelvic kept digging, every handful of sand brought him a little deeper into the dune.

Minutes passed, maybe even hours, before Anpu stopped, panting heavily and throwing his cloak over his body and with one hand pushing the sand over his body slowly, making sure he was blended into the dune's natural slope as he could. Pausing before he got to his face and covered that in sand the Kelvic pulled his other hand free from under the weighty protection of cloak and sand with his kilt in hand making a cone shape as best as he could the kelvic propped it open at the far end with his bone comb and pushed sand around and over the top, making sure the cone didn't collapse.

Satisfied that it'd survive Anpu shoved his hand back underneath the cloak and once more resettled the sand over his body and finally covered his head, face, and makeshift breathing cone. Once covered fully Anpu relaxed and waited until daylight. Unbeknownest to him his attempt to be one with the dune was a failure.

[Jaspayia]

Jaspayia had been following a man's tracks for several bells now. She could tell by his steps that he wasn't used to traversing the desert. His steps didn't have the careful confidence that her people had. Perhaps he needed a guide, and if not, he might have something she could use, whether he liked it or not. Her eyes followed the tracks down a dune, the long way around another, when another set of tracks merged with his own. She sighed. These new tracks meant the man was likely dead by now. The tracks looked like three juxtaposed digits, facing down, with four toe indents at the top. It was a feline print. it was about the size of her hand, which meant it wasn't one of the cats with the bobbed tails. It was much larger. That meant it was one of those dangerous cats that hung around the rockier regions. She knew this harmless curiosity now just became a dangerous situation. She pulled her bow from her pack, and drew an arrow from the quiver on her thigh. She nocked it, fingers gently wrapped around it the feathers. Carefully, slowly, quietly, she followed the tracks up to the top of a dune, and looked out ahead. She saw quite the unusual sight. There was a man digging into the side of a dune like a rabid dog. Just what was he doing? Was he chasing an animal? Then she saw him settling in, building some makeshift shelter, that looked both ineffective, and extremely ridiculous. But where was the desert cat? She kept her bow ready as she followed their tracks down the dune, keeping a wary eye out for the cat. As she reached the valley between the dunes, the tracks diverged. The cat tracks were rougher now, and further apart, as if it were running. The tracks rose slowly, wrapping the dune. Jaspayia knew its plan now, it was going to ambush the man from the opposite side of the dune. Jaspayia decided to split the difference and began climbing the spine of the dune, absolutely certain the ambush was coming any moment. Her webbed feet carried her silently, as she looked down both sides of the sloped sand. She could see the man's shelter on one side, but hadn't seen the cat yet. She continued to creep along, when she could feel movement ahead, just out of sight behind the dune. She had been right, the cat was moving in for the attack. Jasp stopped, raised her bow, being sure to tighten the muscles in her torso and abdominals, keeping her feet spaced and providing a strong base. She tightened her fingers around the shaft, and pulled back on the string, feeling the tension grow until the feathers were tickling her ear. Then she waited, as she looked down the arrow, to the area her senses were telling her the cat would cross. And it did, slowly peering over the crest, stepping silently, a perfect stalker, its tawny fur blending in well with the sands. She expected the slow approach of a predator, careful, cautious. Her eyes grew wide as it pounced, going straight into the attack, speeding over the dune toward the man's shelter. She tried to follow its path, not used to such fast moving targets. She loosed the arrow, just ahead of the cat's path. She had been hoping to hit it in the torso, to hit the heart or lungs. But she had shot too far ahead, and her arrow pierced it through the eye. Death was instant, but the momentum carried the now corpse crashing into the shelter, likely disturbing whoever was inside. Jasp drew another arrow and nocked it, in case the person was as dangerous as the cat, keeping it trained on the area.

[Anpu]

Instincts rippled in his conscienceness before it settled into the light sleep he was hoping to gain in this uncomfortable location. He rose from his hiding location bringing his full form roaring out of the sand with a snarl and a lunge that quickly brought out the beast he truly was.

The ripple of fur rushing down his limbs was an odd sensaion, but then again, so wasn't the bone crunching and shifting that was heard. Albeit not extremely painful it was irritating. Not long though the man's form was a four-legged jackal. The cat that was what perked his initial instinctual urge was dead, an arrow shaft lodge deep in it's eye socket. The fur across the back of his neck was standing up making him look larger than he was, his front paws spaced out and his teeth bared towards the desert cat's killer.

The knife drawn caused the jackal to take a step back. Snarling and growling the jackal's ears flattened. Pausing after a few shifting steps back he once more resumed his defensive stance of his lowered body, front legs spread. Teeth bared and a growling snarl thrumming hard in the back of his throat.

[OOC: Editted because I read wrong. >.<]