Velvet & Others

Outside of the naturally fortified basin, Little Tuft was voyaging towards a nearby stream to drink his fill of the ice cold mountain water. The African Lion traveled with a limp, and could be confused for an adolescent, given the fact that his sandy-brown mane had never fully grown in. Tuft was no youngster though, he was five years old, and had a set of sharp senses despite his handicapped back leg, and he heard the brief commotion of Tyranus making his kill nearby. The male froze and swiveled his rounded ears like two small radars to pinpoint the location of the scuffle, and was further aided by the victorious yowl the smaller feline issued seconds afterwards. 'Bobact.' Little Tuft relaxed a little, but did not let his guard down entirely, nor did he write off the stranger's presence so close to the Basin. Tuft deviated from his course and started towards the direction of Tyranus' yowl, and just managed to spot the agile feline shimmying up a tree with his kill.

"We don't get many bobcats around here." The lion's voice was inquisitive but very soft, for a males, particularly a big cat like himself. He was nearing the base of the tree the bobcat had ventured up, and started to circle slowly around it from below. As menacing as this might appear, nothing in Tuft's body language or tenor was threatening.

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Back in the Basin, Tyranus' yowl could be heard by all. Velvet immediately turned to pinpoint the direction of the sound, but the steep, rock walls of their home made it very difficult to do that. "Sunburst, see to it that the others are gathered when I get back. I wont be gone long." Down from the sunning rock the lioness sprang, masking her wounded leg with grace and a lack of a grimace for the pain that seized it for such strenuous movement. She traveled down the shallow slope, passing by her father before leaving the Basin, intent on tracking down this bobcat.

Tyranus

From the casual way that he seated himself on the broad limb, placing his kill neatly draped over the breadth of it, it was hard to suppose that Tyranus was aware that he'd intruded on the edge of someone else's territory. It had been years since the bobcat himself had claimed territory of his own; in fact, he'd spent so much time as a nomad about the valley that he'd seen most of what it had to offer, and feared little - but the lion that soon trotted into his view made the fur at his cheekbones and the base of his neck fluff up some, instinctively trying to appear bigger in the face of a foe that was easily capable of killing him. Even from the relative safety of the tree, the bobcat was filled with caution, and looked down at Little Tuft, keeping one paw on his catch as though he thought that the lion might try to take it. Still, he addressed the larger male calmly. "It's not often I see a lion in these parts, either. Particularly one of your variety." A bold statement, made in a nonchalant, apparently casual way... but his eyes were trailing the lion as he circled the tree, just waiting for that first movement that would indicate the predator attempting to scale the trunk - at which point, Tyranus would be off like a shot.

Velvet & Little Tuft

The lion's idle pacing came to a stop after a few casual circles around the tree. His amber gaze traveled from the potential meal hanging over the branch, to the one crouched just above it, "We're not natives to this land, as I understand, though I was born here." Tuft's words were calm too, but unlike Tyranus, the lion's body language was also relaxed and at ease, showing none of the tension that the bobcat did. After all, the big cat had very little to fear from this smaller feline, and since his belly was already full, he also had little desire to scale the tree for a free meal - and even if he wanted to, his bum leg would have made it particularly difficult, if not impossible. Instead he was left to ponder the small male as a curiosity, "Since you may not be aware of it, this particular patch of land..." Crunch. A rounded ear swiveled back, followed a second later by Tuft's entire head and a pair of widened, alert eyes.

The muffled step had come from Velvet, and once Tuft saw it was only his sister, he relaxed. Having followed her brother's trail, the keen sighted huntress easily caught up to him and spotted the small hunter lodged high above them in the tree. Passing by her siblings with a long tail flicked against him in a show of unity, Velvet tilted her head upwards, "And who are you, to be trespassing on our land?" The lioness's voice came out as a melodic purr that was not lacking in an undertone of aggression.

Tyranus

Subtly, the shoulders tensed beneath the spotted hide, as he kept his gaze upon Little Tuft. He was still pretty sure that he could outmaneuver the lion, if he chose to climb the tree, but he didn't really relax even when the male stopped pacing around the trunk - indeed, he shifted his position until he could see the fellow better, and replied carefully, "I was born here as well, but my kind are native to this place. You will see many others like me, if you travel outside this immediate area; I doubt I would find more like you, at leas-" He stopped mid-sentence, because Velvet had shown up, and he flinched suddenly, not only for the knowledge that there were now two much larger cats looking at him, but because of the tone she used. Still, he did not flee, but kept his place firmly in the tree, still defending his meal with one paw, but speaking a little more courteously in the face of the female's intimidating. "I apologize - my lunch strayed into this area. I did not realize I had invaded, and food has been scarce; I cannot afford to lose this prize." He ducked his head just a smidgen, but he wasn't going to slink away - not while he was more or less safe on his perch. Of course, he wasn't going to tempt Velvet or Tuft to climb the tree after him, either.

Velvet & Others

Little Tuft took a backseat once Velvet arrived. His show of solidarity with the lioness was reflected in the brief nudge of his cheek against her shoulder as she passed, and after that, he kept back out of the way to give the ex-strategist of the Haunters room to inspect the stranger. She eventually stopped near the base of the tree, with her eyes never once falling away from the crouched bobcat above her, "Winter is settling into the Valley, and food will be growing scarcer yet." If Velvet was aware of Tyranus' fear - and certainly she was - she wasn't doing much to ease it. The crafty huntress did not allow her tones to become soft or friendly, or slip too far away from that hint of aggression that played in them. "You're in luck today, however, because my brother and I have already eaten our fill. And we are more tolerant of our feline brethren than... some of the others, in this Valley. Tell me bobcat, what's your name?" The lioness began to move again, stalking around the tree, so that she was opposite of Little Tuft, and thus making any chance of escape for Tyranus that much more difficult.