><Those Curs><

[Kari]

It was redundant to say she hated wolves -- the puma was confident that every damn canine within fifty feet of her got that message. But, she convinced herself, she had a reason for hating them. The last time she had actively hunted wolves was before the fire, when she and Kent had searched for puppies. The puma's ears went back at the memory, months later. It had been wrong, she knew that. No matter how she may justify it, she had no reason to be slaughtering puppies who had not wronged her.

Wolves who had crossed her, however, deserved a little justice. And some cocky beast had stolen her kill. She knew from the smell and the pawprints. She had been busy chasing away a young puma from her food -- she had nothing against the thing, really, but she was hungry, and food was scarce. It would learn, eventually.

Then she had come back, and it was gone. She had searched, and quickly picked up on the smell and pawprints. Even in old age she knew what had happened, and suddenly the stupid youngster was forgotten. A damn wolf. Snatching her prey right from under her nose!

Perhaps it was her fault. Perhaps she was getting old and slow, foolish. Perhaps this was the beginning of a slippery slope toward death. She forced herself not to think of it that way, though, particularly when she caught prey here and there on the way down the mountains. She could still hunt, and even managed to catch a goat that, in Kari's old age, was more nimble than she.

But Kari held grudges, for years and years. This entire thing had started with the slaughter of her daughter Angela. Years later, when the puma's body had long rejoined the earth, Kari still remembered. She watched those beasts take over territory, chase her away, harass her. She took it upon herself to bother them in turn. With her teeth on their throat, if possible.

The difficulty was finding one canine in an entire forest who had stolen one kill from her. She had reached the woodlands when she started to reconsider the stupidity of this plan; but she was already far from her territory, and she didn't want to return only to tell Kent or that new guy -- Jacenty, was that his name? -- that she had gone all the way down here and then back up for nothing. Jacenty would scoff, and Kent would probably start to question her sanity. Understandably.

And so, figuring that foolhardiness was better than reasoning, the puma paused in the woods to scent the ground. She had gotten good whiffs of the wolf on the way down, and knew what she was looking for. The problem was that, while she was sure she smelled him, she couldn't be sure due to all of the other scents. The puma's tail twitched, ears back. This would take forever.

Whoever the cur was that had taken her kill, he was probably safe. Kari just wasn't ready to admit that. Not yet, anyway...

((Ah, I love this character))

[Onatah]

There was a bear in the bushes. There was a massive grizzly bear in the bushes, and Kari had no idea. Not until the creature picked up its head and looked over brush line at her, and snorted. The puma had snuck up on probably the largest carnivore in this stretch of forest, one of the only brown bears in all of gallop free. It was an amazing, even though at least somewhat alarming, turn of the odds.

With a grunt, the bear pushed itself up onto its haunches, to get a better look at the exposed feline. The bear was a great old beast, healthy and enormous and hardened by years of a very full ursine life.

"Hey, where's the fire?" she called, which then caused her to chuckle at her own words, being that there was recently a horrible forest fire.

Then she squinted and leaned forward, as if noticing the feline for the first time. "...Wait a minute."

Dropping onto all four giant paws again, the bear approached the other female, bobbing her head up and down as she went, catching a good taste of the air.

"A puma! What do ya know. Haven't seen one of you guys in ages."

- Meet Onatah -

[Kari]

One second, Kari was entirely alone in the woods. The next, she wasn't; upon lifting her muzzle from the ground, Kari froze, eyes huge, ears snapping back, whiskers flattening, and tail lashing as the fur on her back rose. In fact, she had never been this close to a bear, though she knew what they were through instinct, smell, and seeing them from a distance.

They were huge. Kari's stomach sank towards the ground as the bear rose higher and higher, towering far above the puma. A pitiful growl -- a fearful noise more than anything -- escaped her mouth. And then the bear talked, straight over her head, about a fire. The tone of her voice was joking and cheerful, and Kari blinked upon realizing it was a joke.

Then the grizzly's eyes turned toward her, and even though Kari knew that bears had poor eyesight, she didn't dare move until she was sure the bear would do her no harm. However, Kari felt foolish, even cowardly -- a great beast appears and she cowers? Where had the other Kari -- the one who hunted horses long ago -- had gone? With a soft snort, Kari lifted her posture, ears coming uneasily forward and fur settling.

The bear dropped with a thud, and Kari trembled as she forced herself to stay still. No moving backward, no. She was not a coward, not going to turn tail and run at the sight of a bear. Even an absolutely damn massive bear. Watching the great head bob up and down, Kari waited... And then laughed at the bear's words, instantly relaxing.

"This isn't quite my territory, no."

She stretched, claws digging into the dirt, to get the tension out of her muscles. Judging by the bear's tone and actions, the great creature meant no harm. Foolish of her to immediately assume such, actually. Who ever heard of a bear eating a puma, or attacking them?

"I'm hunting... Apparently a bit too obsessively since I didn't notice you."

Kari grinned at her own silliness, tail twitching.

"I'm Kari. You?"

[Onatah]

Something about the puma's words, perhaps her actions as well, struck a humorous chord with the bear, and the big female sat right down and rolled with laughter. Impossibly long claws scratching her side, she fixed the cougar with smiling eyes.

She either hadn't processed the fact that Kari was busy hunting, or simply didn't care, because she was now sitting quite comfortably right in the feline's way.

The bear looked down at herself, still chuckling heartily, a surprisingly gruff and booming sound. "You missed me, eh? That is quite a feat. Normally locals go running before I even notice they were ever there in the first place."

"I'm Onatah," she grunted.

Swinging her head up into the air again for another good sniff, she huffed to herself. "Not your territory, huh? Didn't think I smelled no puma around here. Not enough hunting grounds where you live, or something?"

[Kari]

Kari could only stare when the great bear sat down and starting laughing. The puma's ears flicked back; it had to have been something she had said or done, but she couldn't quite see what. Perhaps her initial fear at seeing the bear? Was the bear in fact a gentle sort, who never thought to do harm to the puma, and so found her fear hilarious? Kari supposed it was possible, but she didn't like the idea of being laughed at, no matter how logical the reason.

That and the bear was in her way. This would have been worse if reason wasn't getting a chance to wreck havoc on her plans. What was she doing in here? Did the bear not confirm that there were other predators around, predators that would gladly gang up on her and kill her? She may be a strong puma, but she was getting old, and going after wolf packs just wasn't a smart idea.

The bear's response to her statement made her feel even sillier. A damn squirrel could probably sneak up on her and kill her with how inattentive she had been. Was a stupid dog worth losing her life? The puma's tail twitched as she wrestled reasoning with revenge, bobbing her head at the bear's name.

Then Onatah dragged her completely out of her head with a question. Kari shook her head at the question, sitting down. She probably wouldn't get anywhere any time soon. Yes, of course that was why she stopped. Not that she had changed her mind, oh no.

"More like a wolf stole my hunt and I want it back."

Kari couldn't decide whether she made it sound more or less ridiculous with that statement. She looked over at the bear, tail twitching, expecting another round of laughter. And that time, reason chattered, she'd probably deserve it.

[Onatah]

The bear didn't laugh this time, but she did look a little perplexed. Still scratching herself, she squinted a bit, and just nearly cocked her head to the side in thought.

"Oh? You been chasing after it long?" She didn't remember picking up any signs of a wolf with prey, but then again, her senses weren't what they used to be.

"Guess I'm too old to see the point in chasing after thieves anymore, heh. 'Specially something small enough to be...well...carried off."

She shrugged her heavy shoulders and the smile returned to her eyes, then, brushing off her confusion over the prospect.

"Where's your territory at, anyhow? If...you don't mind my asking. A place with puma is obviously somewhere I haven't been yet."

Onatah had done what she could to explore this land as much as she could, but being that wolves and bear didn't always get along so well, it had been slow work. A definite direction to wander was always a nice thing to have.

[Kari]

She wasn't laughed at -- but she did feel like she was put in her place. Kari almost felt like Onatah was her mother. A huge, brown, bear mother, but a mother nonetheless. What would her mother had said to her if she was going after a wolf? She couldn't even remember who the puma had been, which didn't bother her, but it was a bit off-putting to imagine being chastised for something silly by a smell-less, face-less creature.

At the bear's words and shrug, Kari's tail twiched and she flexed her claws in the dirt, digging at it absent-mindedly. The bear had a point, she admitted grudgingly. It was awfully stupid to chase after something small. But it was a wolf, dammit! Surely its species justified the entire chase.

Would you chase a wolf off of a cliff? Kari's whiskers flattened at the thought.

"I... I have this vendetta against wolves."

Well, that sounded stupid. Kari's lips quivered out of annoyance.

"A few killed my daughter years back."

And that sounded even dumber. Revenge was sweet and all, but even Kari could recognize that she should have killed those wolves and have been done with it. Soon, however, the bear distracted her by asking where her territory was.

Kari's tail lashed briefly, as she wondered about the bear's motives. But if the bear had wanted to kill her or take advantage of her, she would have done it by now, preferably when Kari had been surprised. The pause indicated that the bear realized how odd the request was herself.

Then the puma paused. Where was her territory from here? With the frown the puma scented the air, then rose to her feet and walked a few paces, trying to locate something familiar. Her eyesight was worsening, but she swore she could see the mountains in the distance... Right?

She hissed with frustration, then turned back on the bear.

"Well, I thought it was behind me somewhere, but I'm too old for this nonsense and seem to have gotten myself lost."

She blinked. Had she just admitted to a rather large predator that she was lost and old? That slip up proved it more than anything else. Sighing, the puma sat down once more.

"It's in the mountains somewhere, at any rate. More pumas than wolves... You'd probably smell you were there."

She hoped she would when she returned. For at this point, she had decided that the wolf could take her damn kill. She just wanted to find her way pack in one piece.

[Onatah]

The bear just had to sit back and process for a moment. First her old eyes squinted up in thought, as she really did her best to understand this creature. She listened patiently--and watched--as the cougar struggled to explain her motives, and her situation, and really...the she-bear was having difficulties adding it all up.

And then, throwing her off even further, the cougar admitted her age and the fact that she had gotten lost. Onatah couldn't help but let her expression fall to something a little more grave. She had wondered about Kari's age, but--being almost entirely unfamiliar with the large cat species--just sort of assumed that she was younger than she seemed. This, apparently, was not the case.

So, the bear went back to the last thing that made some semblance of sense.

"...I can understand being angry with them, I suppose. I lost two of my own cubs, many years ago. And a grandchild."

She shrugged again with a roll of her shoulders, and gave a small laugh. "Though...if I would have wanted to set out on a vendetta, I would have had to go off and battle my own kind, heh."

The whole vendetta thing really didn't make much sense to her anyway, even if it had been wolves that had taken her cubs. And for a bear, who gave birth only every other year, losing an offspring was a much more dire event than for a puma. At least in her mind. But...maybe felines were just naturally more vicious when it came to holding grudges. That might have explained Kari's actions...and why there seemed to be so few puma around. She couldn't imagine that a species that ran off and waged war with anyone who scorned them would have consequentially shorter lifespans.

"...Uh, you have any kids since then?"

[Kari]

((Oh God, I can't even remember how many kids Kari has had. *thinks* ))

The longer Kari was around Onatah, the older and dumber she felt. It didn't help that the bear clearly thought her to be a bit old and out of it as well; Kari could tell just from the look on the bear's face, and the pause before she replied. At Onatah's comment she nodded solemnly, understanding the pain of losing one's cubs, if not a grandchild. Pumas normally didn't keep tabs on family members at all, and Kari was no exception with grandchildren, at least.

Then, when Onatah mentioned her own kind, Kari paused. Pumas killing each other's cubs really wasn't that uncommon of an occurance; it was the main reason mothers fought so hard to keep males out of their territory, even the cubs' father. Would Kari had gone after her own kind if, say, Jacenty had come along and killed Angela? Her tail lashed. She would have killed him, of course. But go against all pumas? Of course not. It was foolish, a waste of time... Impractical.

Was hunting all wolves any different? Kari's ears flattened and she stared at the ground, feeling foolish, and hating that it had to be right in front of a total stranger.

"When you put it that way, it seems pretty idiotic."

She decided not to mention that it made her feel stupid. There was only so much that Kari was willing to admit. Only so much pride to part with, after all. At the bear's next question, she looked up, knowing what was coming.

"Yes... Not for a few years, though. I'm a bit old for that."

She grinned at the bear, hoping the comment would off-set any more lectures. She felt stupid enough already.

((Man, it's been a while since someone else set Kari in her place))

[Onatah]

Though they were somewhat peers, the smile that Onatah gave was most definitely motherly. Whether it was a reflection of how she viewed her relationship to the puma, or whether it was just the only smile she was used to giving, was unclear.

"I found that having another offspring helped to ease the pain of losing one. A chance to start over and do things right, I suppose."

The smile flickered and fell like leaves then, and her sigh was heavy as she looked off to the side, deep into the trees.

"Nothing fixes it, of course, but it helps."

A few moments burdened with old memories, and the bear changed the topic.

"So...how do you intend to get back home?"

[Kari]

Kari's ears and whiskers went back at the bear's smile. Though the bear was certainly bigger, old, and, it seemed, wiser than she was, the puma still did not appreciate being treated like a cub who needed to be set right. Yes, she had made some stupid decisions in her life -- but that didn't mean some brown bear needed to adopt her and scold her for it.

Then Onatah's smile vanished, her eyes distant. Ah, that she could understand. Even pumas, creatures who didn't care about their children once they grew up (well, usually), could understand the pain of losing offspring. Kari could relate every time a cub was killed by a male, trapped by humans, stumbled off of a club. It never helped that, deep within her heart, she figured that every dead cub was a mistake she could have prevented -- a male she could have fought, a human killed, a cub brought to safety.

She nodded silently at the bear's words, but did not repeat herself; children was simply not within her capacities anymore, too old to possibly take proper care of them. The cubs would learn the arthritic way of hunting; not particularly effective, Kari figured with an amused snort.

Then the bear abruptly changed the topic, and Kari's tail twitched. What an... Odd question.

"I imagine I will just turn around and scent my way back. I have nothing there to protect; it won't matter if I'm gone for a few days."

Nothing to protect but memories and the nice location she had picked out; right near pumas that she felt she could trust. But there were so few inhabitants in the mountains that it wouldn't be hard to find new territory, should it come to that.

She wasn't planning on it, though. She didn't know what the bear thought, but the puma knew she wasn't dumb enough to get lost while on the hunt. Of course not.