Closed Growl like you're Prey [Yvaine]

[Assilsa Curare]

29th of Fall 513AV
The wind blew through the times, rustling the leaves with a calming sound. Even the smell of the moist dirt and decaying leaves was enough to relax any soul no matter how troubled they were. Assilsa’s bare feet felt the dirt and leaves between her bare toes, the bark against her palms, this, in the wilds was where Assilsa felt at home, not in the hostel or even in the streets of Nyka.
With today’s pay Assilsa would buy that knife she had been adoring from a distance. Smiling she pulled out her lash and began to scale the trees looking for her pray. The sounds of the wilds filled her, making Assilsa bare her fangs in satisfaction. Stalking the trees for what seemed forever Assilsa began to lose hope of finding her prey.
…Snap…
Assilsa’s head snapped towards the sound. At last some prey had shown itself, tightening the grip on her lash she balanced on a branch and scanned the forest’s floor. A stag stood proud y a plant that Assilsa had assumed he was eating.

[Yvaine Hardgroove]

Day 29, Season of Fall, 513 AV

Yvaine had finally had it with the city. While she may have accepted the job as hunter, she was not having much luck. The past few attempted hunting trips left her without anything to show for it. And she prided herself on her hunting abilities was the worst of it. She was made for it of course. Though her mother tried to soften the blow slightly, that maybe she just had to get used to the terrain, or maybe perhaps it was just her age. After all, she had worked with her father when it came to hunting.

Really Yvaine just didn’t have the heart like she used to. She still blamed the city for it, though she knew deep down nothing was actually holding her to the city. Her mother would completely forgive her if she decided she couldn’t make it in Nyka and left. It was hard to feel wild with walls and people everywhere. And most of the people in Nyka didn’t exactly appreciate her cat form wandering the streets startling people.

Today felt different though. The moment she left the city every one of her instincts fell into place. The earth beneath her paws settled into her bones, and set fire to her muscles. Thinking back, it had been months since she let go—chased down prey with the speed that she was born into. It was much harder with the trees though, and Yvaine realized she would have to let go of the fact she’d never reach full speed in the forest.

Yvaine had spent the last hour or so, tracking through the forest. She had caught wind of the stag almost as soon as she entered the forest, though by scent alone he was already a good distance away. So she let the tracking side of her brain take over. Hoof prints, errant hairs snagged into bushes, a simple shift in the breeze all led her to this point. Staring at the beautiful creature as it grazed, completely unaware that it was being hunted. Yvaine crouched low, slipping across the forest floor almost completely hidden beneath an errant bush. Her muscles twitched, practically begging her to release her speed. But she wasn’t ready… it wasn’t quite the moment to pounce. Just a little closer.

[Assilsa Curare]

Assilsa crouched lower, ruby eyes focusing on her prey. Her feet balancing on the branch, her black hair slowly sliding back over her face. Assilsa must focus in order to swing her Lash in the correct way to be able to slice the deer in the correct away.

Her Lash was a tad unreliable; however Assilsa chose it over any other due to the history of her family. Her mother had taught it to her as a child, best year of her life. Focusing back on the prey at hand, Assilsa began to notice desirable money making things that would make her wealthy again, such as its beautiful antlers and its beautiful brown hide with the tinges of red.

“May you be useful”

Whispering in Symenos Assilsa crept one more step forward before readying her arms to strike. That’s when she saw the smallish figure of cat? No, she had seen the splotchy patterned beforehand, that beautiful figure…

Assilsa lost herself watching the muscles of the cat’s legs flexing as it readied for the pounce… pounce. That cat was going to steal her catch. This was not going to happen, it was the biggest catch Assilsa had seen in this forest. Anger began to rise in the back of her mind, Assilsa couldn’t help it as her fangs began to extend, this was her prey, she was this deer’s predator.

[Yvaine Hardgroove]

Day 29, Season of Fall, 513 AV

The breeze brushed against her face, causing her whiskers to twitch. The buck lifted his head, trying to catch the scent of predators in air, but Yvaine sat downwind, like any intelligent hunter would. The last thing she needed was to give up this chase. Weeks of pent up energy and the only thing she wanted now was to just kill the petching creature. The ground beneath her feet shifted, her claws pressed into the ground in preparation of the chase. And then the buck turned, backtracking straight towards her and Yvaine felt every coiled muscle in her legs snap.

To Yvaine every time she hunted it felt like slow motion. The grass slipped between the pads of her paws—when her feet touched the ground. The buck was so close it didn’t even take her a full three strides before she was on him. Her spine twisted almost unnaturally as she collided with the side of the buck who had just started to veer away from her sudden appearance from the bushes. For a tick she thought she was going to bounce from his body, her claws failed to find purchase even before they had the chance. If she lost this fight before it even started she was going to quit hunting all together…

In the next tick her front claws sliced into the thick shoulder muscles. Unlike most other large cats, her claws didn’t dig into the muscles, but hooked into the skin. Her back legs tripped the buck, and the both went down in a tumble of fur and legs. It was a scramble, trying to avoid the flailing hooves as the buck desperately tried to get up. But Yvaine curled up across the back of the buck, and then lunged for the neck. The buck let out a strained cry as it tried to roll Yvaine off its back. But it made the mistake of stretching out its neck and Yvaine dove for it, teeth closing around the fur.

For a moment Yvaine almost forgot the point of the hunt. With her teeth latched into the skin, the taste of blood reminded her of how long it had been since she ate what she killed right there in the forest. In the last tick before her teeth broke the skin any further, she reigned in her instincts. Locking her jaw as best she could, she cut off the windpipe. The buck squirmed and kicked, but she had the advantage already. She felt the pulse against her tongue weaken, before it stopped completely. Dropping the neck, Yvaine panted heavily. Even with the quick struggle, the buck was strong—bigger than most prey than she normally took down. Licking her muzzle, Yvaine fought off the instinct to just eat. The buck would probably fetch a pretty price… if she could drag it back to Nyka anyways…

[Assilsa Curare]

Assilsa growled in anger, it was her prey! Her fangs were slowly extending as she felt the anger building. As the cats teeth punctured the beautiful hide. Jumping down from her branch Assilsa’s eyes narrowed at the scene. Gripping her whip with white knuckles she approached the cat.

“Get your mouth off of my prey!”

Yelling wasn’t a smart move, she would scare off other chances however that deer was the biggest prey Assilsa had seen since she had started. She couldn’t just give in to a small annoying cat. Baring her fangs Assilsa began to circle around the dead deer and the cat.

The magnificent horns, soft beautiful hide… All gone… in a flash of teeth and blood, horns buried in the dirt getting scratched by small rocks and the fur being torn by those sharp teeth. What a waste of chances and money.

[Yvaine Hardgroove]

Day 29, Season of Fall, 513 AV

Her ears twisted to the sound of something landing on the ground close to her. They twitched wildly as Yvaine’s head swiveled to meet the noise head on. A woman—pale and long limbed with red eyes and fangs bared directly at her—apparently had come from the tree. Yvaine trailed her eyes down to the whip, held tightly in the woman’s grasp. Yvaine felt her hackles rise on their own account. Everything about her screamed dangerous despite never seeing anything like the woman before. Though the fangs alone were enough to tell her that she wasn’t friendly…

“Get your mouth off of my prey!” Yvaine dropped her ears flat against her head. Her prey!? Who did all the work to take it down? Yvaine stood in a crouch, keeping herself facing the woman as she started to circle her and the stag, a constant growl leaving her chest in warning. The whip would hurt if it connected with her fur, probably leave long gashes in her side that her mother would have to attend to the best she could when she reached home. But if she could get around the whip, her speed may prove to her advantage. Avoiding the fangs would be difficult as well, but she didn’t have to kill the woman. Just get her to back off.

In reality though, Yvaine sized up her other options. She was nearly as fragile as the woman. If she got seriously hurt, she wouldn’t be able to hunt anything else for quite some time. Normally if she would have chased the stag down, she wouldn’t have much choice but to turn tail and run. Even with the stag’s size however, she hadn’t wasted nearly as much energy as a full out run would have. It was difficult decision. It had taken her so much time to just hunt this one stag down.

Yvaine hissed at the woman. She might as well stand her ground now, and if it came down to it, there was no way the woman would be able to keep up with her in a run. Long limbed she may be, but Yvaine was entirely built for speed. In fact the woman seemed more intent on the stag than her. In annoyance, Yvaine’s left paw shot out—not a swipe at the woman, but slapping the ground in a sign of defiance. This stalemate wasn’t going to turn out well, not at all. Yvaine figured it would be best to take a chance… even if it turned out to be a bad idea. In a flash of light Yvaine shifted into her human form. She remained crouched to the ground, the snarl never leaving her face. If she could have held a growl in this form she would have.

”Seeing as I took it down, I would say that it’s my prey.” In her opinion even if they both were on the hunt over the same prey, she had still done the work to kill it. The woman held no claim over something she had done entirely on her own without help.

[Assilsa Curare]

This was certainly an amusing turn of events, with the cat’s paw shooting out and stamp at the ground Assilsa knew that it wasn’t going to give up its stolen prey. Assilsa hissed baring her fangs and crouched over, the cat itself would fetch a high price, and if she was to win she would get both and annoying cat and the deer, bonus.

The sharp side of Assilsa’s whip caught the small eyes of sun and sent out a white flash, giving her an idea. Swinging the lash slowly she began to get the momentum needed for hopefully a warning ‘shot’. The lash continued to catch the light at different points of the swing, sending out more of the white flashes.

“I have been following it for a bell or so now! It is mine!”

Flicking her arm as hard as she could Assilsa watched the lash whistle through the air and come closer towards the cat, wishing for it not to actually hit the cat she saw it cut into the ground dangerously near. She had wanted it further away, Assilsa had no urge to cut the beautiful animal unless necessary, and if they were to fight Assilsa would make it fair and fight with teeth and claws as well.

To show that she would in fact be fair Assilsa dropped her beloved whip and bared her fangs once more. She couldn’t give up this prey, she needed something to take back apart from the rabbits she had been taking to them for the last couple of weeks, taking a few steps to the right Assilsa relooked over the condition of the deer, it was still good, they had some time. With one slow confident step forward Assilsa stared into her opponents eyes.

[Yvaine Hardgroove]

Day 29, Season of Fall, 513 AV

The whip was certainly something to be worried about. The woman did a decent hiss… considering she wasn’t a cat. But the swinging of the whip meant one thing—Yvaine was ill prepared for a fight of this caliber. Tapping her fingers on the ground, her topaz eyes narrowed slightly. Her eyes could catch the glint of the whip, but it was nearly impossible to keep up with the tip. The part she needed to watch for the most. But the stag was the first kill she had since her arrival at Nyka. Part of it was pride, and she knew for her it could be dangerous to feel that way.

“I have been following it for a bell or so now! It is mine!”

The whip snapped, digging into the ground nearby. Yvaine jumped back slightly, in a very awkward stance being in human form, but she refused to budge. That hit could have landed, either the woman was unpracticed in her weapon—or she had something else in mind. So Yvaine she barked out a humorless laugh. ”You’ve been trailing it for “bell or so?” What were you waiting for it to die of old age? I’ve been tracking the petching beast for bells, and it took me not but a few chimes to actually take it down once I caught up to it. You hesitated—regardless of circumstance. It’s my kill.” Yvaine was impressed her voice didn’t waiver. It wasn’t uncommon in the wild lands to be driven from a kill by a larger predator.

The woman dropped the whip and Yvaine growled in the back of her throat. Well, apparently the woman was going to make this fair. But it still sat in the back of her mind. She didn’t know what the woman was—she had fangs, which meant she wasn’t human. There was no telling what else she could do. But Yvaine drew a deep breath, shifting straight back into her animal form. Instantly the senses that became available to her again brought a relief. Human form was just too dangerous—and it was becoming apparent that the woman intended to fight this out.

As the woman stepped forward, Yvaine hissed again. It was a warning, as Yvaine stood her ground. But in the back of her mind she could feel it. Instinct was starting to win out—as nice as the stag was it wasn’t going to be worth the fight. And if she could take a deer of that size to begin with, she hadn’t lost her touch entirely. But she wanted to push just a little more… no reason to leave a good kill if she could bluff it out.

[Assilsa Curare]

This was getting worst by the moment, Assilsa, growling in anger rubbed her eyes. The pair either needs to fight this out or let one of the two have the deer. They needed a result before they killed each other, how could they be fighting over something that is clearly Assilsa’s.

“We can either fight like scrabbling children! Or you can give me my pair or even! We can help each other out!”

Assilsa knew deep down she shouldn’t be fighting like this with what she assumed was a fellow hunter, it had to be otherwise they would be fighting or the cat would of left the larger predator to have her catch. If she was indeed another Hunter Assilsa could use and ally like this, either if they were to fight over prey Assilsa could take on much larger prey if she had a partner.

“We have to work this out like the meat is still good!”

Personally Assilsa still considered this her prey which was why she had ignored the comment said before, she needed a something as big as this to be able to make a name for herself, something to make her wanted instead of despised.

[Yvaine Hardgroove]

Either her bluff worked, or the woman wasn’t entirely wishing for a fight either. Yvaine realized that they could very well wander circles around each other for bells and probably not get anywhere. But that made it so much harder to abandon the stag. Though when she stated that they could split the stag Yvaine let out a sharp bark. Half seemed a little ridiculous seeing as she had done all the work to actually take the thing down. While her teeth and scratch marks would certainly bring down the price of the pelt, there was no doubt the meat would fetch a decent price. However the offer to help each other out seemed—unusual as it came out of the blue.

Snorting through her nose, Yvaine decided if she wanted to talk about this… well one of them was going to have to come out of their defensive stance. As a cheetah she generally hunted alone, though it wasn’t entirely unheard of for young males to gather together. Yvaine being more than just cheetah however and could certainly see the benefit. So she pulled up from her crouch, sitting against the ground and wrapped her tail around her feet. Her muscles across her shoulders were still tense—ready to dodge the whip should the woman try anything, but seeing as neither of them wanted to risk becoming injured, Yvaine took it as a fairly safe bet.

But they were wasting precious time as Yvaine realized. The stag itself wasn’t going to last forever and if she wanted to get anything out of this beast, she was going to have to either split the prize, or risk injury. With an almost heavy sigh, Yvaine shifted back to human. The near constant shifting and the extenuating work out of killing the stag was beginning to take a toll on her body. Exhaustion was starting to keep up and she realized she may only have one last shift into her before she’d be too exhausted to do it again. Frowning slightly, she remained kneeling on the ground as she crossed her arms over her chest.

”I still fail to see why you should get anything out of this kill, but neither of us are exactly willing to try and die over it either. I suppose I can split the price to avoid a fight, but you have to help carry it back. However,” Yvaine tilted her head to the side, staring at the woman with keen eyes before she shrugged slightly. ”What do you mean ‘help each other out’.” She wanted to hear the details of this little… idea before she agreed any further.