ORIGIN - Racing towards the Fire

"....and you just wait..." he said softly to her, carefully crouched in a patch of tall grass, his tail swishing back and forth in the open air, a purely mischievous look on his face. He was watching a cave rat through the rushes as it seemed interested in something it was nibbling on, and Lavonia was right beside him, watching him with his smile on his face that made him melt. "....and when you know its time....you JUMP!"

He ran from the tall grass as fast as he could, but the rat had quicker reflexes it seemed, and dashed away from him like a bolt. He kept up with it, pursuing it with single-minded determination, and he almost got it under his claws, but it zigzagged under his feet down into a rabbit hole, and even though he stuck his nose in the hole to try and snuff it out, he could smell that the tunnel was deeper than he could reach.

He shook his head, deciding that it wasn't worth it, and sauntered back over to where Lavonia was. he wanted to show off, but luck wasn't on his side a the moment. Maybe he was just a better fisher than a hunter of rats.

"Maybe you should try?" He said, grinning at her. "Maybe you'll have better luck than me, my queen."

"Speech"

@Lavonia

She was BEAMING with excitement! Firenze had offered to teach her how to hunt, something that would become a necessity in her life. She was hungry now, watching what she could make out as a cave rat. Fat, round and juicy. Oh if Firenze ate these things then it was probably heaven on earth! Second to herself of course.

All they had to do was remain silent and wait, that seemed simple enough. So she watched both the scrumptious rat and her sweet coyote, smile wide and eyes full of wonder. Seemingly at no particular time Firenze had announced '....and when you know its time....you JUMP!'. Perhaps it was a feeling one obtained if they were stalking the meal? He had ran from the cover of the tall grass, chasing down the rat with unrelenting determination. Until it zigzagged down into a rabbit hole, a sanctuary. She observed the attempts to snuff it out. Only nothing worked, the tunnel was seemingly deeper than they could reach. Her dear Firenze sauntered over, proposing that she should try. Well everything seemed proximal, so she shouldn't go wrong choosing a different option of approach. Maybe even a different prey item, as the rat would probably stay within its safe haven until they left.

Scanning the crisp blanket of snow around them she couldn't pick anything up. She crept from Firenze, walking a few meters away. Still nothing...or so she thought until 'it' moved, long ears twitching as it cleaned itself. Hunkering down she wiggled closer, trying to gain cover from the tall grass. Except, she was nowhere near them now. She didn't seem to notice, managing to crawl closer. Her white spotted coat was seemingly the perfect camouflage for these conditions. It probably also helped that it's back was turned to her. She didn't mind, she was focused entirely on the white rabbit.

"Speech"

"Thought"

@Firenze

She'd noticed something else to focus on, and he frowned, trying to see what exactly it was. The rabbit's coat mixed in almost perfectly with the snow, and he almost missed it. He snuck in close to Lavonia, giving her a look out of the corner of his eye, but she was totally stuck on the rabbit, waiting for the right moment. Well, if Leon taught him anything, it was that it was beat to just seize the moment! There was no point in being patient, because that's how all the best food moved right past you. He would just have to help! Who knows, maybe showing off right could end his bachelor days...? He would do his best.

He bolted right out of the bushes towards the rabbit, and because this one had its back turned, it was just a half-second slower than the cave rat was. He cornered its route of escape to the left, and he called out to his queen, rushing the rabbit right towards her.

"Speech"

@Lavonia

She had been waiting for the perfect moment, the fat succulent rabbit had turned its back. NOW was the time! A slightly shimmy of her rear and she was too late! Firenze had ran right past her! What was he doing!? She sat their a little upset, but that quickly diminished as he rounded a corner, cutting off its escape. Her dear coyote called out to her, it wasn't until now that she fully realized his plan. They would catch it together! Teamwork would be a very important skill they both needed to hone! She only hoped she wouldn't let him down!

A loud rumble of her stomach gave her all the incentive she needed to succeed! Bolting straight at both Firenze and the rabbit. It seemed as if the little thing hadn't noticed her, focusing a bit too much on Firenze and its escape. She could only think to leap! Crashing down onto the snow! Her large paws outstretched and hitting the rabbit, successfully stunning it long enough to secure it within her grasp. Except...it was watching her...eyes wide it could do absolutely nothing.

"Firenze..what...I thought they...don't live when you catch them..." She was excited she had caught it, yet she felt she had done something wrong, it was still moving. That wasn't the goal was it?

"Speech"

"Thought"

@Firenze

He walked towards his queen, his breath fast in his throat. That rabbit sure ran quick! But it was fine, Lavonia had caught it swiftly and gracefully, just like he knew she would. When he made it to her with her caught prey, he frowned.

"Well....yeah. You have to kill it first." He said matter-of-factly. He had to kill all the fish he'd ever caught, but they usually died on their own out of the water. He never thought much of it. "Like the fish we ate earlier, remember? They had to die before we could eat them."

He looked towards the frozen rabbit under her clutches. He didn't think much of it - it was caught, and it knew it would die, so it wasn't putting up a fight. He knew that if she let it go, it would run like a bolt of lightning as soon as it got the chance. "I could kill it for you if you want," He said. It wouldn't take much effort - just closing his teeth around its throat and tearing it open. He'd done it before.

Firenze thought back to that rabbit he'd killed, his very first live kill in the tunnel back when he was a little pup, and shivered it away. He was different, he was stronger than that now. The little things that ran were just gutless cowards, just food, nothing more.

"Speech"

@Lavonia

Firenze quickly made his way over to her, frowning at the current situation she was in. She hadn't killed anything, nor did she want to. He explained about the fish, how it died too before they ate it. span "I...I didn't know it didn't happen...automatically?" Truth be told she couldn't stomach it, at least not yet.

She watched the still rabbit under her paws, eyes wide as it knew its time was soon. She nearly thought about letting it go, until Firenze offered to dispatch it for her. He was so very kind, glancing over to her knight she nodded. "Please...I don't think I can do it. Not yet at least..."

She would wait for Firenze to place his paws over it, before even thinking about retracting her own. She wanted to watch, to observe how it was done so she could try again in the future.

"Speech"

"Thought"

@Firenze

He made her way over to her now, standing across from her, his paws nearly touching the still rabbit. Firenze smiled at her, jokingly, and said, "If we died automatically when caught, tag would be a very different game!"

"No, it's actually pretty difficult to die. You have to either bleed out or get hurt so bad your body just give up, or stop breathing. With fish it's easy; you just let them flop around on shore till they die, or you hit 'em hard enough. With the lessers, it's...well. I'm glad it's not so easy to die." He said, musing.

He might as well get it over with though, right? He put a paw over the rabbit's neck so that Lavonia could step away and his neck reached down to the rabbit. It started to struggle in his grip now that it new death was so close, and he said quickly to his empirical queen, "You don't have to watch," before sinking his teeth into the rabbit's belly, ripping it open, letting the hot blood roll over his tongue and his teeth as it squealed into his ear. He didn't want it to die a slow death with its stomach open by this point, so he stepped on its neck until he heard a pop sound, and it lay still.

With his mouth covered in blood, he let go of the rabbit and turned away, saying cheerfully, "You're welcome to it! I'll be right back," as he strode over to a nearby pool of water. No good letting her see all the blood on him if she was still uncomfortable with the idea of death.

"Speech"

@Lavonia

Firenze made his over to here, joking about how tag would be a very different game. She hadn't thought about it that way. Both had their similarities except for a few. Hunting was a very intense game of tag that only one person won in the end. He explained how gembounds and the like could die. Explaining the difference between when he had caught the fish to when they had caught the rabbit just now.

The more he explained the less she actually thought she could do this. She wasn't sure how he managed to stomach it. The easy answer, he was stronger. Stepping off the rabbit once Firenze took over she shielded her eyes. Her ears laying flat as the rabbit squealed, shortly after a small pop hung in the air. She sat there, noticing she hadn't particularly said much the past few minutes. Though what was there to say? She understood the reason why, she loved eating but it was the part that came before hand. She reflected on it, watching Firenze vanish to go clean himself up.

"Thank you Firenze"

She spoke soft and genuine. She found it hypocritical of herself, to love the chase, love the hunt and even the meal. But to turn her nose up at the dirty work that was involved. Something she knew she must grow comfortable with to live. She couldn't rely on her sweet coyote to kill everything. Even though she knew he would do it over and over again till she was ready.

"I'll try next time...maybe if I...grab them hard enough they will die before I realize it?"

She mused mainly to herself, but welcomed Firenze's input. She hadn't started eating, not yet. She would wait for him, he had done the dirty work after all.

"Speech"

@Firenze