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Post by prythian on Apr 22, 2010 21:13:23 GMT -5
"Harumph." Asani snorted. "Even I don't try to live off grass. Stuff has absolutely NO taste." He seemed to ignore the lamentation. "Survival of the fittest is right, however. You wouldn't have caught any of my friends." The unspoken 'because I don't have any' hung in the air... at least, it did to Asani. "And my family lives too far for you to have caught one of them. So I don't care one way or another. As you pointed out, you have as much right to live as I do."
He grinned. "It's when you try to keep your right by taking mine away that I don't like it." He was almost giddy; it was his first conversation with a predator, and his curiosity was burning to the front.
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Post by Rhea on Apr 23, 2010 17:39:21 GMT -5
”I’m glad you agree,” she replied rather cheerfully. She blocked out the comments about family and friends; those were things that would distract her any time she hunted. It’s depressing to think about the fact that each meal is taking away someone’s brother or sister, mother or father, son or daughter...far too depressing.
“How long do you plan to stay in my tree? Am I going to have to chase you out?” Of course, she was joking. “Besides, I thought squirrels like you lived in burrows. You can’t very well live there.” Imani inhaled again, nose twitching a little. “Though, the fruit always smells lovely this time of year. I wouldn’t mind living in such a sweet place.” She glanced at the cool, tiny cave where she resided. It seemed far less pleasant.
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Post by prythian on Apr 23, 2010 20:00:33 GMT -5
"Pffffft. It'll get cold at night if I stayed up here." Asani pointed out. "Though, as for chasing me out... didn't I prove how fast I was earlier? You can chase me, but I don't think you can catch me. Not that you didn't TRY." He chuckled a bit. "I may have to sneak in here just to steal your fruit when I get hungry, though. There hasn't been much to eat around here lately for creatures like me." He gave a little shrug.
"I'll get out when I feel like it, and not before."
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Post by Rhea on Apr 23, 2010 20:13:44 GMT -5
The wild cat’s ears perked. “Oh? You don’t think I could have caught you, if I hadn’t decided to find less challenging prey?” Imani was in a playful mood, one which triggered an idea. “How would you like to race? No chasing, no life or death struggle...just a race.”
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Post by prythian on Apr 23, 2010 20:17:02 GMT -5
"I'd say you're talking my kind of language." Asani grinned. "You have longer legs, but I'm willing to bet I could get past that advantage of yours. Problem is, for a race to work properly..." He paused, taking a bite of fruit as he did so. "...You have to set down the rules properly. The course and all that stuff. Any ideas, cat?"
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Post by Rhea on Apr 23, 2010 20:29:56 GMT -5
“True, true,” Imani nodded. “Well...we could race from here to the stream and back.” The stream of which she spoke was the only one nearby. It was a few hundred feet away at its closest point to them. If Asani’s burrow was near here, he’d surely know of it. “The starting point will be the base of the fruit tree. You’ll have to come down here, of course, no jumping head starts! How about it?” The feline approached the tree trunk, brushing against it. “The first one to make it back to this fruit tree and touch it wins. How about it?”
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Post by prythian on Apr 23, 2010 20:33:09 GMT -5
"I guess I agree with those rules." Asani replied, his eyes gleaming. "Jumping from here would be just plain unfair, after all." He scurried down the tree, stopping right beside her. Even knowing she had challenged him and was saddened by the necessity of killing made him wary, though. All his instincts were telling him to RUN...
...And he planned on doing that.
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Post by Rhea on Apr 26, 2010 18:45:51 GMT -5
On Asani’s way down the tree, he brushed against some leaves that promptly began to drift toward the ground. “We’ll start when the last leaf hits the ground, alright?” Imani said. That should be fair, rather than one person saying ‘start.’ The feline was an honest and fair type, as long as her life didn’t depend on it. She took deep breaths and prepared herself, crouching down to get a good start.
One leaf, two leaves...and the last leaf landed. Imani ran.
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Post by prythian on May 1, 2010 15:34:34 GMT -5
And Asani was off! With his small but fast legs, he was keeping up with Imani... though not as well as he could have. In fact, he was very, very slowly losing ground. Luckily, he wasn't running as fast as he could, but running faster would only tire him out. Instead, he had another plan for getting ahead.
Without warning, he suddenly jumped, not straight up into the air, but at an angle, propelling him forwards with all the strength his Advanced Jump Boost could offer. This action should easily place him ahead of Imani when he ran, and there were no rules against it.
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Post by Rhea on May 2, 2010 11:59:55 GMT -5
Imani watched the squirrel leap ahead. Two could play at that game! She too could jump with extraordinary power, and did so. Now they were neck and neck. She gave a quick cat-grin and pushed herself even faster. The stream was already in view! When she reached it, Imani realized she’d been going a bit too fast – and managed to fall right in. The water wasn’t too deep, but it was water and she had managed to tumble and slip a bit. Soaking wet and a little disoriented, it cost her precious seconds to shake herself off and get her thoughts reorganized.
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Post by prythian on May 2, 2010 18:59:07 GMT -5
Asani, right behind her, noticed her slip-up and gave a bit of a grin. "You're good, I'll give you that, never thought you could jump like me." He called out, 'drifting' as he turned, claws scrabbling in the mud. "But there are some advantages to short legs, like not overshooting quite that much!" He shot off back towards the tree, continuing his jumping now that he was turned around.
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Post by Rhea on May 7, 2010 13:12:50 GMT -5
Imani pulled herself for the water, grumbling, and resumed the race as quickly as she could. Asani was already far ahead, but the feline didn’t want to give up. It would be shameful for a predator to lose to her prey. She imitated his clever way of leaping ahead to gain speed, using her claws to propel herself, but it still wasn’t enough. Her mind scrambled for ideas, but really, it was a simple test of agility. It seemed Asani was the more agile one...though Imani was sure she could overpower him – not that she would try.
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