That Awkward Moment When...

Gryphon had never been prone to playing, though a large part of that had stemmed from a sense of responsibility for his family that had forced him to grow up much to fast, and part from having missed a great deal of his childhood cooped up in a den from illness. Yet perhaps it was the spring air, or maybe the way the orchard triggered memories of the time between sickness and pseudo-adulthood, but as his brother's voice answered him back Gryphon dropped into a hunting crouch, a sudden light of mischief sparking in him. He'd always excelled as a hunter. Now he used every bit of that hard-won skill with all the glee of a pup stalking a leaf.

He stole closer, setting his paws with exaggerated care, knowing that any crack of a twig could send a blackbuck fleeing and leave the pack hungry. He moved in fits and starts, so that the rustling of bushes blended into the general rustle of wind in the leaves. After all, a dik-dik would run from any sound that wasn't natural. His gold-brown pelt didn't blend as well here as it would in a different landscape, but it wasn't like this particular prey could see him - assuming that a certain spotted cat was amenable to playing along and didn't give him away.

Body lowered, hindquarters coiled beneath him and ready... with a silent huff of effort Gryphon leaped through the last bush screening him from where he had heard his brother, paws extended to clasp around his brother's neck, jaws ready to clamp onto his scruff or ears.

Partway through his leap it occurred to him to hope that said spotted cat took his stalking in the spirit it was intended, or he could very well find himself with a few sets of claws and teeth in his face well before he landed.