Horizon Ridge waterflare

for @Ayashe <3

the cat had come inland after his run-in with the young wolf -- he had grown weary of parading the sands with its pitiful offerings of briny prey. by sheer dumb luck shardul had discovered a yearling fawn, which had been separated from its herd, succumbing to the elements soon after. the cougar had dragged it away and cached it in one of the trees overlooking an expanse of broken rock.

the afternoon found the great silver cat at its base, licking blood idly from his paws. from time to time, an eartip flicked, but shardul was absorbed in his task, enraptured by the cleansing of himself.

Ayashe had found this coastal place pleasant enough but not somewhere she would want to stay permanaently. It wasn't as if she could either, those pitiful mutts would soon rally and chase her off wherever she stayed. Nomadic life was the one she, and almost every other cougar, were given to live.

The afternoon found her strolling through the sand dunes amongst the few trees that had taken root there. The sun was warm upon her fur and the fox she had eaten earlier was sitting well in her belly making her feel content. Upon glancing over the trees she spotted the bloody carcass of a fawn. She knew no wolf had put it there which left little options to what predator might have.

Ayashe raised her head, sniffing for any scent. When the briny wind shifted it revealed a cougar nearby. She put on the defensive, for not all cougars were friendly even to their own kind, yellow eyes scanning the beach with ears tipped forward.

It was after she crept forward that she saw him. He was larger than she and a more silver color than the tawny brown pelt of others. He was busily licking his paws and didn't seem to notice her yet. 

Hesitantly, she moved forward as she chirped out a soft hello. She kept a good few feet away, ready to run if need be it. She would fight him if he attacked but it was obvious who would win. He had much more muscle mass than she, one could only hope he would be friendly.

there came a scent not found in many days -- he had not seen timber in some weeks, and so was surprised when his lemon-yellow gaze lifted from his thrice-cleaned paw to meet the eyes of a pantheress standing some feet away. curiosity and apprehension was stamped upon her features. "who art thee?" the silver cat growled, gathering his massive body to its full height and stalking toward her. "why hast thou come to me?"

though he had lost a great amount of weight over the winter, shardul was still quite imposing, and the light of madness was full upon his face. he loomed before the woman, silently demanding an answer.

She faced him with the same calmness she gave to all. Her golden eyes were serene as she looked over the brute before her. He was handsome in a wild sort of way, and her stance betrayed this. Her eyes gleamed with playfulness that clearly spoke,' I am not afraid.'

"I am Ayashe,"she introduced herself, voice soft from misuse. She had not spoken to anyone in quite awhile, she had no company to speak to. "I approched you for you are a cougar and I am a cougar. One can be friendly, no?"

"ayashe." pleased that she did not fear him, shardul allowed her the space she had collected for herself and came no further. had he been a natural beast, his interest would have been quite roused by her lithe and bronzed frame, close at it surely was for her season and the begetting of children. but he was not; such could only be engendered in the silver cat at the sight of blood and the gasping helplessness of a lesser creature.

"i am not friendly. i am shardul." his yellow eyes found her own coldly.

She nodded, studying him. "You are trying to make me fear you." It was not a question rather it was a statement. Perhaps she should be scared as he was much larger and more muscular. But the tawny female was not. Instead she was merely interested. 

"You enjoy pain. I see it in your eyes." She gave a small shrug as if to say,'To each his own.' She would not be idley injured though. Were he to try she would fight, she did so love a challenge though. She would never admit it but she was not adverse to pain herself. "Perhaps it is your unlucky nature that I am friendly."

"thou knowest much about me," the silver cat purred sardonically, settling himself again. "luck is not friendly. to be a friend is foolish." tail lashed idly behind him; he glanced beyond ayashe, and then, restless again, circled the female with an appraising glance. "what investment wouldst thou havest in slaying wolves?"

his question was pointed -- he had no use for the woman if she wished other things, such as cubs or marking the boundaries of her own territory. shardul had no want for either -- he roved and slew, and it was the manifestation of his life.

She listened to his words, delicate ears flicking to his voice. He circled her and she waited as he did so, not showing him if She were afraid or not. The move would intimidate many but not her. Her tail swisher as she stood, giving a feline stretch to her body. In t4with she was not afraid of this male, he might be mad but not even he lacked logic.

She nodded, smirking wickedly. "Count me in." She began to purr in excitement of hunting the wolves. She so detested the mangy pups.

he smiled, though it was a cold thing, devoid of a shred of warmth of amusement. "come, then," he invited -- or perhaps it was a command -- "walk with me. tell me of thyself." she was pleasing to the eye, but not in a desirous way -- he looked at her as he might look at a new spring flower, or newly fallen snow -- the aesthetics of both were pleasant, but engendered nothing else in his base, icy heart.

She walked alongside him, her shorter legs working to keep up with his longer strides. She nearly laughed at his question. To tell him of herself? What was there to tell? She was an average cat, driven by hunger and anger. Rarely was she moved with lust but more so she enjoyed hurting things. Particualrly the slobbering dogs that roamed this place so freely.

There were few she cared for enough to truly share her emotions with and Shardul was not yet one of them. He would not know of her bloodlust or the things that made her happy until he was. She supposed though that he meant her past rather than her interests.

"There is not much to speak of. I was born in another land to a mother of the name Nictori. When I came of age to mate and birth cubs of my own she chased my littermates and I away. She most likely has new children now. Me, I wander now. Or I do until those mutts chase me away," she rolled her eyes in annoyance of the canines. She didn't know why she hated wolves so much. Perhaps it was their superior demeanors or their stupid yowling they called wolf song.

last post for me! <3

her story was similar to his own, but not closely. shardul gave a grunt of acknowledgement, but no more. "we shall hunt wolves, then, thee and i." it was the closest to companionship that the silver cat was able to give -- perhaps she would accept, and perhaps she would not.


shardul began to meander off in search of his cached meal; he paused to glance over his shoulder, seeing if ayashe would follow.

She padded after him, muscles rolling under the warm sun as she moved. Perhaps now she had a friend or at the least a comrade. She doubted anything else would become of their relationship, if it could be called that. She was in no hurry. If she found a mate she found a mate, she didn't particularly care if she ever had cubs. Following after Shardul, she disappeared behind him hopefully getting a chance to swipe at some of those mutts.