Rufus crouched in the long grass with ears pricked forward. Slowly he rose up like a meerkat, his ears flattening out like the wings of a plane, and peered through the swaying grasses. His large, almond shaped eyes were fixed on a distant spot of color. The pupils of his eyes soon dilated as he made up his mind. He sank back to the ground and stared broodily at the dirt. That distant spot of color was a small feral hog. It had to weigh three times what he did, but he was having no luck whatsoever with things his own size. All the birds seemed to have disappeared, all the squirrels were hiding away in their trees. The thought of fishing around blinding in the nook of a tree in the hopes of snagging a squirrel didn't appeal to him, so here he was eyeballing a pig.

But how, how did he catch something so much bigger than himself?

He huffed and peeked over the grass again. The oblivious (perhaps indifferent?) pig lifted a hind hoof and scratched at its ear. Rufus noted the pot belly that threatened to brush against the ground as it did so. God he could eat off that thing for weeks.

What he needed was a partner. Once upon a time he'd had one. Rufus' heart quickened at the thought and he had to resist the urge to sigh. Zelda. A gorgeous leopardess. She'd been the yin to his yang, the muscle to back his wits. It was a shame they'd had what she had called “irreconcilable differences.” She'd called it one thing, but he knew it to be another. A brutish leopard had stolen her away from him. Perhaps he could have won her back, but the beast had wrapped him up in a hide one night and thrown him in the river. That was a trip down memory lane for another day, though. Right now he needed a game plan.

WC: 328

they had finally gotten off the island and traveled further inland. leaving Eliphas to his own devices for a bit, Zola set off alone. her spear was slung across her broad shoulders, moving with the motion as she lumbered along the proverbial road. she was at home with the prairie though. it reminded her of the savannah grasses, tickling her belly as she walked. she had the intention to find something to eat. something large enough to satisfy both her charge and herself. coming across the wild pig was a convenient thing. a gift from the gods above. she crouched low, trying to sneak up on the creature. it was almost like a warthog without the mass of hair...

speaking of masses of hair, she grunted in surprise as she almost stepped onto something much smaller than herself. removing her paw just in time, the small feline was unscathed. she still kept low to the ground to avoid being seen, but as she looked down at the strange creature it was clear it too was stalking the hog. while Zola could easily push it aside and ignore the attempt, the cat had spotted it first. she knew it would have no luck against the prey though. "want pig?" she asked in her broken English, whispering to the feline "we split, yes?" the apprentice added in kindly. she waited for him to deny or accept, her amber eyes focused entirely on the pig.

[ wc; 241, total; 569 ]

Out of instinct Rufus sidestepped the wolf. His ears slicked back and his back arched as his tail puffed up to several times its original size. For a beat her proposition seemed to fall on deaf ears as his wide green eyes stayed riveted on her face and his expression stayed unreadable. Behind those feral green eyes, however, gears were grinding at a frantic pace. Canines were...well canines. In the grand scheme of things they seemed to always be the competition of - or the predators of - felines. But there was no detectable malice in the wolf's face and she had already had amble opportunity to pounce on him if she had wanted to.

Rufus relaxed almost as quickly as he'd tensed up. "I want it." He sank back to the ground and although one ear stayed pointed at Zola most of his attention was on the pig. "You've got yourself a deal, wolf." Now, how to go about this...

He peeked over at the wolf. "If you can chase it towards me, I bet I can scare it right into your jaws." It was a strategy that had worked for him in the past. Prey animals were usually so focused on the terrifying big thing chasing them that they were all but blind to what small determined critters might be hiding in front of them. It had been his experience that if he lay still, orange or not, he would go unnoticed.

WC: 244