We are young [Mac]

[Mika]

The weather was still freezing and food was still hard to find. The young akita was old enough to start fending for himself but, he could just leave his foster parents behind. Denim and Natiri, a lion and dog, were kind enough to raise him from a four month old pup who had lost his way. Take took a chance to search for food, despite the fact that his hunting skills weren't perfect, and prey was still difficult to find.

The young canine slowly emerged from the log cabin he had slept in for the night, and smiled as he took in his surroundings. There was still snow and ice everywhere but, this particular setting made it look more pleasant. There was still snow on the ground, and it coated the surrounding pine trees. Despite the time he spent in the city, Take still loved the countrysides. He could see a lot more beauty in mountains, forests and plains than in the city, especially because of what was happening in Hexasol right now.

He walked ahead slowly, still looking at the scenery before stopping next to a tree and sniffing the air. After catching a scent, he slowly moved in the direction of of the scent, and stopped when he finally spotted a hare, digging in the snow. No doubt, it was looking for food too. Take crouched low and slowly moved forward. If anyone saw the young akita, they would notice at that moment that his movements were more like a felines than a canines. He watched the rabbit carefully as he slowly moved toward it. Unfortunately, the hare noticed the dog and took off in the opposite direction with Take not too far behind.

The rabbit had more speed than its pursuer and managed to escape into a borrow before Take could catch up to it. He slowed to a stop as he looked at the burrow somewhat disappointed. "Oh well." He said with a sigh. "It wouldn't have been enough to feed a dog and lion anyway." He turned and sniffed the air again for signs of any other prey that might be around.

[{Mactíre}]

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[atrb=background,http://i45.tinypic.com/xc8av.jpg] It had been difficult, to say the least, for the young lioness to survive the winter on her own. It was something she was largely unused to, causing her to realise how dependent one was on others when one was in a pack or Pride like Iris. She was quite an able hunter, but usually had to search to find a meal that would satisfy her hunger. Luckily, deer, unlike birds, could not fly south for the winter, nor could they burrow underground or hide in trees like rabbits and squirrels. They were also bigger than most other prey to be found around Hexasol, and after gorging herself on one, she could go for at least three days before the need for food became to urgent to ignore. No, it wasn't the want for food that made her ache so inside. Out here, she had no friends, no family. Alex, the brother she had been closest to. . . She'd let him down, broken all her promises to him. But how could she keep them when they meant death and destruction to anyone who got in the Pride's way? Her old self, the feline she had been half a year ago, would have derided and loathed who she was now, just as she fervently hated the feline she had been then. Violent, half-crazed with a need to kill felines. . . Nathan had been the one to first make her realise her huge, unforgivable mistakes. She had turned her grief and inherited hatred of canines into something that made her a monster. And there was no erasing what she had done while she had been that monster. Nebula had thought that, maybe, somehow, Denim would forgive her, would understand. But the change in her muse have been too great a step to seem real to her peace-loving brother. But how could he know, how could he understand, when he had always been so different in the first place. "You killed an innocent canine and enjoyed it. Whether you have changed or not, you are still not my sister." "You can leave me, you can leave our home and abandon everybody who's ever loved you. But you'll always be an Iris cat. Not because of your bloodline; because you've tortured and killed a dog, and more importantly, because you laughed while you did it and enjoyed the suffering you caused." "So don't think you can just run away from Iris, don't think you can go out into the world and move on from your old life and have everyone forgive you. Because even if we never speak to or see each other ever again, that memory will always be there to remind you of what you really are. You're a killer, Nebula! Just like me." Their words had stuck in her mind like a burr that manages to bury itself firmly in one's pelt. They haunted her day and night, and to a certain extent both Denim and Alex were right. She couldn't right the horrific crimes she had committed. But on her good days, she was determined to leave her old self behind, along with Iris; somewhere, there had to be someone besides Nathan who would understand. Oh-so-perfect Denim had no sympathy for her, the murderous lioness who was no sister of his, and whom he believed could never change. It left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wanted to find him, stalk up to him, and remind him that he was not perfect either. Nebula sighed heavily as she trotted through the beautiful pine forest. It was still bitingly cold; as a lioness, a breed of animal not designed for extremely colool conditions, she felt it more than most other creature. Her thick winter coat did little to warm her when out in the open, and so, as now, she shivered and put up with how draining being perpetually cold was. I'm cold inside and out now, aren't I, Denim? She asked silently with a wry smile. She'd done her very best over that few months to get used to the idea of treating canines as equals; it was hard, to say the least, but made slightly easier when she decided to try to treat them as she would a feline, only with slightly more caution, as she was not completely unknown by her former enemies. Reminding herself that she had come here to hunt, on this beautiful yet freezing spring morning, the white feline began to be more attuned to her surroundings, taking care not to place her paws on leaves the that would rustle or twigs that would crack. She had come here because it was the perfect place for herds of deer to hide and graze, with the clearings and many pine trees. Sure enough, she caught the scents of at least ten deer after five minutes of casting around for a prey scent to follow. Stealthily she crept through the forest, setting her jaw as her prey came into view. Obviously a rather small herd, consisting only of about three bucks and ten does, they grazed peacefully in a wide clearing. The former Iris princess sized them up, searching for any weaknesses. Her gaze settled on a rather small doe; scrawny and underfed, she seemed weaker than the others. All the deer were facing in different directions with their heads down - she would have to be careful, or she'd alert the entire herd before she got anywhere near her target. Slinking forward, knowing that her white pelt would stand out amid the browns and green of the forest, she held her breath. She was only a metre away from the doe when another, also grazing near the edge of the clearing, looked up, blinking in alarm. Moving quickly, and with no pretence of stealth, the lioness leapt towards her prey, front paws outstretched, claws unsheathed. One of the bucked let out a trumpeting call, causing the whole herd to flee - except for the scrawny doe, who crumpled as Nebula's heavy body pinned her to the ground. The death was mercifully quick, a bite to the throat. Seized with hunger and a sort of lust, the ivory female tore into the still-warm flesh of the doe, feeling refreshed with every mouthful she swallowed. By the time she had sated her hunger, the best part of the doe was still left. Sitting back, she licked the traces of blood from her muzzle and paws, Alex's voice suddenly ringing in her ears despite the fact that the blood was not that of a canine. Her attention was distracted as the slight wind blew her way, carrying with it the scent of a dog. Young, male, with a tinge of - was that Denim's scent? And the bitch that had been with him before? Curious and uncertain, yet unwilling to leave her half- eaten meal behind, Nebula seized the doe's scruff and pulled it with her, though a short length of forest to another clearing. At one end of the huge clearing was a log cabin, atop a small hill; below it was open ground, with a few snow- encrusted rabbit burrows here and there. And standing near one of the burrows, facing downhill, was the young dog Nebula had scented earlier. With a grunt, she dragged the body of the doe up the hill, stopping a short distance away from the unknown dog. She wondered if he knew of her; she fervently hoped not. Slightly unsure of herself, she called out in an attempt at nonchalance, "Uhm, hello. Lost something?" If she had judged correctly, it looked as if he had lost his intended prey to the rabbit hole right next to him. Shutting away all the condescending thoughts that threatened to swamp her mind, she stood next to the carcass of her prey, waiting for a response, or at least some kind of reaction.

[Mika]

The young Akita lifted his head to the air and sniffed once again. The loss of a small rabbit wouldn't discourage him. He caught the scent of the doe but, it seemed someone else had already gotten to it.

There was a lion nearby. Had Denim come to hunt too? Take looked and moved around the clearing, clearly looking for the lion instead of trying to escape like most canines would probably do. He was surprised, and a bit disappointed, to see not the golden brown pelt of a lion, but a white lioness approaching instead.

Thanks to his lion father he didn't grow to hate felines but, he did tend to be wary of some of them. Any one of them could be an angry Iris feline. She wasn't familiar but, she didn't seem too threatening. She was carrying a carcass with her, the doe he had scented earlier. He would have to search for food elsewhere, it shouldn't be too hard now that prey was returning to the forests.

"Uhm, hello. Lost something?"

She sounded unsure of herself, as if she had little to no experience with talking to others, or maybe just canines? He couldn't help but slightly tilt his head. Where was this lioness from? Mostly because he stayed somewhat close to Denim and Natiri while traveling in the city, the young japanese akita didn't recognize this particular lioness. Was she new to the city?

As long as she wasn't an Iris spy looking for more prisoners, Take wouldn't pass up the chance to possibly make a new friend.

He chuckled a little and offered a friendly smile. "Yeah, just a rabbit though. It's wouldn't have fed my family though." He said, glancing at the burrow before looking back to the white lioness. "My name's Take."

(she's a white lion right?)