The African wild dog had at least found a place that matched the terrain he preferred. The land was wide open so that he could see a long-distance other than where grassy hills hide what was behind them, or the long grass-covered up some secrets. Still, nothing here would stop a straight-out chase as he preferred. Kione was tired of the long night but it had become normal.

Trotting along the plains it was almost ridiculous the amount of food he could find here. In front of him now was a rabbit, its stomach torn open. Kione hadn’t wasted time in eating, the rabbit died not from some snap to its neck or strangle but just by Kione getting enough of a hold to start gutting it while he ate.

There was still a few more bites to eat when he spotted the flashes of orange a ways off. He couldn’t see the body clearly yet but it was coming this way in a patch of high grass. Kione wasn’t about to miss a match-up against the large cat. Still, he grabbed another good chomp of his meal, eyeing the direction of the tiger, not wasting a chance to eat. Those few bites were all the time he had before the tiger was running at him. Idiot cat. Wasn’t there an easier game than this? Kione jumped away as the cat looked at the scraps left behind.

The painted dog, twitched a lip in a smirk as the cat seemed displeased about the amount of food he’d left behind. It hadn’t been going for him but for his kill. Kione ran in a circle around it, noting how the cat was easily following his movements. Unlike the cougar, he’d killed before the tiger before him wasn’t sick and would take a lot longer to kill. The wild dog wasn’t crazy enough for a straight-out fight. One strike with a paw and he’d be a dead dog, one bite from that mouth could likely break his spine.

Kione didn’t care for fighting alone but he also didn’t tolerate any type of cat, certainly not one stealing his food. His fighting style lately had become antagonized until they were tired out before a real fight would begin. That said he darted in, mouth open, and then jumped away as the tiger swiped a paw out towards him, followed up with it giving chase. Kione was running in circles, keeping in the general vicinity but making the cat work.


"Speech"

The crystals that had grown from his body and the ooze that poured from him had begun to let up just a bit. At least, the crystals that had been growing had begun to break, almost as if they were weakening. He didn't feel as heavy anymore, and his strength was slowly returning. But until the crystals fully went away, he'd have to continue dealing with them in the meantime. He traveled south in search of his father and siblings, wondering where they'd all wandered off to since the pack disbanded. It had been a whole season and maybe longer since he'd seen his siblings, and he was curious to know how they were doing or what they were up to.

As darkness continued to loom across the lands, he heard what sounded like a large cat up ahead. The stench of it reached him, though it seemed it wasn't alone. Stalking forward, Ifrit peered through the brush and spotted the large striped cat chasing what appeared to be a canine of sorts. He wiped away some of the ooze from his eyes so he could see better, squinting as the canine appeared to be forcing the cat to chase it around on purpose. Or at least, that's what it seemed like. There was no fear from the other male, and he imagined that if he was truly afraid of the tiger, he would've made a break for it by now.

As he watched them in their little game, a crystal broke off of his back and clattered against another on his shoulder, an audible clink sounding as they crumbled to the ground, but that was all that was needed for the tiger's attention to turn to him. Well fuck... The tiger skid to a halt and looked at him, tail lashing as it looked between him and the african dog...though it seemed to be indecisive as to who it wanted to go for. It looked hungry, but ultimately, it remained where it was between the two, watching the horned male and the dog, keeping them both in its sights. Ifrit on the other hand, figured he might as well have a spot of fun and so he stalked forward, freeing himself from the grasses as he kept his eyes on the tiger and the male respectively.

"Speech"

The game between the tiger and Kione was going well, at least in Kione’s thinking.  It wasn’t near an end but he was positive he could outrun and outlast any cat.  There was a clinking sound and the tiger stopped.  Kione wasn’t one for stopping at strange sounds in the middle of a fight but his gaze twitched to see what the tiger was looking at.  A wolf huh?  Wolves seemed to be pretty numerous, at least in comparison to his own kind.

Was this wolf going to help? It didn’t seem likely it would attack Kione either way and the tiger was distracted.  He didn’t bother to watch to see if Ifrit joined in and so before Ifrit came forward Kione had already rushed in at the orange and black cat.  He tried to get around to one side to truly but it this time but that had fully caught the tiger’s attention back on him.

If the wolf wanted to help it could make this go faster certainly.  About that point, he flicked his gaze off again to notice the other wolf was apparently going to join the fray.  Excellent, things would become more fun fast! Kione charged the tiger again, leaping away but now trying to make the tiger focus on Kione.  The wolf was huge and bulky and could surely do more damage than Kione could quickly.  However Kione was confident who would win in speed and dexterity, so he’d make sure the tiger had little time to look at Ifrit.  


"Speech"