Our Future is Bleak [PRIVATE]

[zorayda]

Eeve looked back at Nyeusi as they trotted along.

"About a day's travel," she answered shortly, keeping up the pace. Kobi made a whiny sort of noise next to her, but Eeve ignored him and kept on going. Hopefully they could make it that far before he started whining about being thirsty or something... Eeve had the feeling that Kobi was one of those kinds of lions...

-----

Taraji nodded at the cheetah's order, following her closely. Being smaller in stature, the snow leopardess didn't do as well in hunts alone... she was glad of Tabasamu's company.

"I have a really good sense of smell," Taraji informed the cheetah. "Oh, and I have an, um... ability, that lets me sneak up on things... I forgot to tell you..." Taraji stammered, getting quieter and quieter. She hoped that the cheetah wouldn't think she was some kind of freak or something...

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi sighed quietly as she heard the time it would likely take them to reach the water. While it would take quite awhile, it would bring them to water, something they needed very much. She was fairly tired at this point, but was thankful that at least it was then daytime, and the cold was mostly gone. The extreme heat would come eventually, and at that point she was not sure she would fare well. In the cold, her paws grew numb and her body cold. In the heat... she often neared death.

----

Oh? What is that? Sounds interesting and... quite helpful. All too often I've scared off my prey before I have a chance to take it down... Tabasamu replied, perking her ears up as she heard Taraji speak. We should hurry, though. You've got very thick fur and... the heat will come soon. I doubt you fare well in the heat, eh?

[zorayda]

Eeve doggedly trotted at a steady pace, the food in her stomach giving her new vigor and a brightness in her eyes that wasn't there previously. Her glow began to seem less bright as the sun rose to meet the trio of felines, making her seem dim in comparison. The heat would be soon to follow... but if they got to the water hole in time, they wouldn't have to worry about that. Glancing behind her to make sure Nyeusi was keeping up, she pushed onwards a little faster, silently encouraging Kobi and the panther to do the same.

The large male kept silent, obediently following the lioness. He trusted them simply because he had no others to trust... and besides, the two females were much smaller than he was. The thought of added abilities or their combined cunning never occurred to him, but, then again, Kobi was not as bright as he let on.

----
Taraji flattened her ears and blushed at the cheetah's words.

"I can... change colors," she explained to the ground, bracing herself for rejection. She also shook her head at Tabasamu's question. "Well... th-the cold stays close to my skin for a while because of my f-fur... so I d-don't feel too hot until later in the day..." she told the cheetah, her voice getting quieter by the second.

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi was keeping a close eye on the lion. While he had more or less proven himself trustworthy, the world they had all ended up living in was cutthroat and she wouldn't be surprised if a companion held things back, such as intelligence. She wasn't going to make accusations, mentally or out loud, but she did want to be careful, even about this gigantic, apparently dim lion - even if he did seem rather attractive, even to her as a different species.

"I um... I don't do very well... in the daytime heat..." Nyeusi spoke up softly to Eeve, worriedly noting the rising of the sun. "It's better than cold but... my fur doesn't favor keeping cool." She was not sure if Eeve knew of the perils of dark fur, but was prepared to explain it if need be.

----

Tabasamu's ears perked up as Taraji informed her of these abilities, particularly surprised to hear about the color-changing ability. "That boom did strange things to everyone, it seems." she said with interest. "As far as your temperature goes, we're headed for a bush area, so there will be shade. I would like to see this color-changing thing though... it could help us a lot."

She looked at the snow leopard with an expression she did her best to keep happy and interested. She could sense by Taraji's rapidly-lowering volume with everything she said that she was a very shy individual.

[zorayda]

Kobi's breath came in light pants as he ran with the two females, his large, shaggy figure making him somewhat slower than the other two. As a male, he was built for sprints, not long distances--but he kept silent. Survival meant less luxury and less time to rest. His chocolate brown eyes kept darting in Eeve's direction. In all honesty, she was rather pretty, if a bit skinny and aloof. The brightness of her eyes and the sleekness of her fur caught his attention, though he was too shy to say much of anything about it.

Eeve's eyes slid to the panther's as she spoke of her lack of heat tolerance, not slowing their pace as they did so. She looked forward again, thinking as they cantered at a brisk pace. There wasn't really any shelter nearby from the sun, and she knew that the waterhole was close ahead somewhere...

"Nyeusi, do you think you can hold out until we get there? I can smell it--perhaps an hour ahead. Otherwise, I don't see how we can protect you from the sun's rays," Eeve pointed out, concerned for her new companion.

----

Taraji's ears perked up at the cheetah's interest, her long tail twitching in surprise.

"R-really?" she asked incredulously. The only time anyone had seen her ability, it was a hulking lion, and he'd sneered at her as if she were a freak. "Um, okay... I can show you. It h-helps me to hunt..." she said softly, this time with a tiny smile upon her dainty muzzle.

"I like to hunt hares... or groundhogs," Taraji mentioned. "If that's okay with you..."

[SnowyCheetah]

"I should be able to last that long," Nyeusi said, "if it's just an hour." She continued to trot, her eyes on the horizon scanning for the first glimpse of the water source Eeve was leading them to.

She watched Kobi as he began to pant lightly. His heavy fur bouncing with each trotting step was an indication of all the excess weight the lion was carrying around in fur alone. Even she, with her black pelt already beginning to soak in the rays, was faring better than he was due to the much smaller amount of it she had than him.

Nyeusi also noticed how Kobi's eyes kept gravitating toward Eeve, scanning her sometimes while she wasn't watching. She smirked a little bit and pondered telling Eeve about this later on, when Kobi was elsewhere.

----

Tabasamu looked at Taraji as she began to walk. "Anything we can eat is valuable, even if it's small. We would have to get more than one, but we may be able to pull it off."

She stopped for a moment and looked intently at the snow leopard. "I would like to see your abilities. That way we can work out a plan together."

A friendly smile appeared in the corner of her mouth.

[zorayda]

The first rays of the sun were merciless as they beat down upon the trio of felines, already causing the thin Eeve to pant rapidly. She wondered if Nyeusi would last with her dark colored fur, and Kobi with his thick mane. But she could smell moisture ahead... it was so close. Not able to speak due to her labored breathing, she tilted her head as she ran to nod encouragement at Nyeusi in particular, since she'd been so alarmed about being in the hot sun.

Finally, after what seemed like an eon, they came upon a shallow but large pool of water. A sparse few animals were already there--prey animals. They eyed the carnivores warily as they approached. Kobi unashamedly jumped into the water, soaking his fur and effectively cooling himself off instantaneously. He felt as if it was the most refreshing feeling in the world.

Eeve was more sensible about the whole affair, eyeing the water carefully for crocodiles. Seeing none, she eased her body into the water. It reached up to her nose, so she tilted her head up to breathe properly as she soaked. She was sure Nyeusi would be right behind them. Eeve opened her maw infintessimally to allow the slightly muddy water to trickle down her throat. Her body suddenly felt ravenous with thirst, but she remembered that a lioness could become sick by drinking too much at once, and paced herself with a short leash on her willpower.

----

Taraji nodded at the cheetah's agreement, sharing the sentiment. At Tabasamu's request, the plain white snow leopard hesitated, worry making her small muzzle turn down in a frown. Would her new friend shriek in fear and run from her like she was some kind of freak?

"Oh... okay, if you're s-sure," she murmured, eyes downcast. She fixed her eyes upon the other feline's foreleg and touched it briefly, and suddenly her coat was covered in cheetah spots, her fur the same shade as Tabasamu's. Even her eyes matched her companion's.

"I c-can change anything... and c-camouflage myself any way I w-want t-t-to..."

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi was overjoyed to have finally reached shade, though she didn't show it. Panting more heavily than she ever had before, she went straight for the water and dunked underneath the surface for a bit before poking her nose and face above again. The cool water felt heavenly to her hot skin, which had been sweltering underneath her heat-absorbent black fur as she walked with the others. She kept an eye on Kobi, but was mostly concerned with quenching her thirst while avoiding becoming sick. The water on her tongue was a welcome taste.

"I suppose we'll be needing to find a safe place to sleep." She said to Eeve, dunking her head back in the cool water for a second to get some on her face.

---

Tabasamu was amazed as Taraji's coat changed to that of her own. "That's amazing!" she said, obvious wonder and even a little happiness in her voice and expression. "I know exactly how we can use that! If you can sneak up on prey, you can scare it toward me. Then I can take it down and both of us get to eat another day."

She looked kindly into Taraji's eyes, half-waiting for her to return to her previous coat pattern.

[zorayda]

Eeve had had her eyes closed in bliss as she soaked herself in the water, but opened one of them infintessimally to regard Nyeusi as she spoke. Snorting some of the murky brown water out of her nose, she tilted her head back slightly to speak above the water.

"There are some leftover shelters that the two-leggeds have left behind. We can find one and sleep there, perhaps." The wheat-colored lioness was not overly concerned of gaining protection from predators, since they had strength in both numbers and in size, thanks to Kobi. Said lion was paddling happily about, his blonde mane drenched and dripping into his eyes. Eeve sighed. Hopefully he fought on instinct rather than intelligence, or else he'd just be all for show. She glanced at the black panther meaningfully at this thought, knowing Nyeusi might be thinking the same thing.




Taraji nodded as her coat shimmered again, this time to match the landscape's mottled white and gray patterns.

"S-sure... you're faster than me, so that sounds like a r-really good plan," the leopardess agreed. Her large eyes focused upon Tabasamu's as if waiting for instructions. The young snow leopard was not exactly the leader type.