Finding a new home

[☼Åžrå☼]

The spotted feline had been walking around Amanija, trying to find the place that would fit him best. Kudos had seen cold conditions, too cold for him. Deserts, too hot. Oceans, too much water. He was about to give up and go back to where he had come from when he came across this place. The foliage around him was much like the plantlife that he had been used to seeing, only bigger and lusher. His pink nose sniffed the air and smelled abundant rodent-life. They were what his diet consisted mainly of. Small creatures like mice and frogs. Not poisenous ones though. Those would obviously kill him. The ocelot looked around at the treetops above and saw many colorful birds flitting around the branches. Kudos loved to watch birds fly when he had nothing to do. He sighed, content at last. His golden eyes looked around, searching out any sign of something that would be able to eat him. No clawmarks on trees, no scat on the ground. A smile crossed his face. He had this land all to himself. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. What if someone owned this land he was standing on? What if he just hadn't met them yet? What if they decided to eat him? His small body began to quake a bit and his claws shot out. Kudos raced to the nearest tree and dug his claws into it's bark. It was like he was simply running as he shot up the tree. His climb soon found him sitting comfortably sitting on a nice high branch. He surveyed his surroundings, trying to see if he spot any movement.

[Trick]

A black form slipped in between the trees and continued on. Green eyes scanned the area as he bolted through the forest, sure that if he hadn't avoided his pursuers by now, they'd have a tough time reaching him at his speed. He weaved past tree after tree, sometimes risking a stare over his shoulder to almost to come crashing up against the cruel trunk of a tree in front of him. He began panting rapidly, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and to the side. Little droplets of drool were swept away from his mouth to fly backwards to land on who knows what. He had made a mistake and he knew it.

The wolf had found himself in an unknown terrain, a territory he had never come across before. He had no idea what he'd run into in a forest like this, but he hoped it wouldn't be to bad of a threat to himself. The pitch black wolf risked another look over his shoulder and was satisfied to see no one at all right on his heels, or even in any direction. When he turned his head again he was staring at the bark of a tree. He barely had enough time to raise his two front paws and somewhat climb up the trunk. The speed helped propel him up while his claws frantically clawed at the bark, trying to climb so he wouldn't fall. Luckily, he managed to barley climb up onto a limb and there he stood, panting up a storm. He hadn’t realized he was in the same tree another animal was, nor did he care at the moment.

Shuin scanned the area over and over and over again, looking for any traces of movement from the ground below. Nothing was spotted, nothing moved, nothing breathed, and nothing was coming to get him and shred him into pieces. "How was I supposed to know I had wandered onto their pride's territory?" Shuin asked out loud to no one in particular. Now there was just one more problem he had to deal with. How to get out of this darn tree.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos had just been starting to settle down when he saw the wolf crashing through the forest. He had just been hoping that it wouldn't start barking at the base of the tree when he saw it climb. His fur stood on end and his pupils dialated in fright. He nearly fell off of his branch in fright. "NOOOOOOOOO!!" he shrieked. "It's the end of the world! The canines have figured out how to climb trees!" Kudos had always been scared of canines. Must have been the feline instinct in him. His back was arched tightly and he stared at the wolf, daring it to climb up to his branch. His claws tightened their hold on the branch.

[Trick]

Shuin looked up bewildered at what had just let out a shriek. It seemed to be coming from the very same tree he was stuck in, but higher. "Canines have figured out how to climb trees? Uuuhhh, noooo not exactly. Stuck up one is more like it." Shuin looked all around in the tree until he found two golden eyes that were glaring at him. Another feline, but this one was smaller then those rotten lions.

He looked up at spooked cat with an emotionless look. He looked surprisingly calm, devoid of any signs of emotions. He eyed the cat curiously, he could smell the fear wafting around it. "There is no need to worry feline, I am not going to eat you. I don't suppose you know a way of how to get out of a tree safely? I've never gotten out of a tree before." Shuin blankly admitted and blinked. Shuin could see how the cat gripped onto the limb and was almost surprised it didn't split in half. Perhaps the feline knew what this place was called. Cats were always good with that knowledge, hopefully this one wouldn't be any different.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos calmed down a bit but didn't release his hold on the treebranch. "Well, if you were a feline you would be able to simply land on your feet, but your a canine. I don't know how you would be able to get down." His claws released their hold on the branch and sat down. "You would probably be able to simply leap down, it's not too far. Just be sure to land on all fours, for you otherwise might break something. Here, let me show you how." Kudos walked quickly over to the trunk of the tree and dug his claws into the bark. He then crawled backward down to the branch the wolf was sitting on. When he reached that branch he reached his hind legs down to the branch and released his hold on the trunk of the tree. The ocelot walked over to the wolf, then leapt over the canine so he was farther from the trunk of tree. He calmly looked at the wolf... Wait a second! I'm right next to a... WOLF! Kudos' ears laid back on his head and his hind leg muscles bunched. He leapt out into the empty air and his back arched in preparation of contact with the ground. His tail twisted around a bit to keep his paws parallell with the ground. He watched as the earth rushed up toward his body. His eyes closed as his paws landed on the forest floor. His knees bent a little to keep the impact from shattering his fragile bones. As soon as his paws were solidly on the ground he ran strait for the next nearest tree. He raced up to the nearest branch and stopped. His golden eyes looked nervously at the wolf that was still stranded on the treebranch. It was hard for Kudos to trust any canines after a liftime of running from them.

[Trick]

"Well that makes sense! I'm not a feline so I can't land on all fours, oh ya, nice." Shuin watched the cat climb down and then jump clear over him to land back on the limb without a problem. Then it looked at him calmly before it looked like something had just hit him and he leapt off. "Like that? I'm suppose to jump and land like that? I don't know." Shuin thought as he saw the cat then climb up another tree and stare at him again. Shuin knew why he was afraid, but really, he had nothing to worry. "Like I said before, I am not going to eat you. Thank you for showing me how to get down." Shuin said blankly and looked over the edge of the branch and down at the ground. He was not accustomed to this view and leaned over as little bit too much. He fell forward and flipped onto his back just as he hit the ground. His back hit first and then his head flew back and hit the ground, knocking him out cold instantly. He wasn't moving and it couldn't be told whether or not he was even still breathing.

[☼Åžrå☼]

When Kudos saw the wolf fall from the tree and land on his back the coldness he felt for the canine melted away. He let out a startled "Oh my god!" before leaping down from his perch. His paws barely touched the ground as he ran to the still form of the black wolf. When he was only inches from the still form he perked his ears listening for the tell tale signs of life. I can hear his breathing all right, there's a heartbeat. He's still alive. Kudos' frightened eyes relaxed a bit as they stared at the wolf intently. Now he just had to wait for the wolf to awaken. He knew that he could dump water on the wolf's head, but he had nothing to carry the water in but his mouth. His small maw wouldn't be able to carry much water.

[Trick]

Usually when one blacks out, that's the end of it. There's just blackness until you wake up, until you're in the real world once again. Usually...usually that's what happens. Shuin considered those animals to be lucky, for when he blacked out, it didn't go all black. He usually found himself in a dream or memory. Now was no exception. This time though, the memory/dream was taken from a recent event in his life. Lions, the cold-hearted felines were all around him. Chasing him, clawing him, biting into his flesh. There were just so many lions, he couldn't escape, couldn't brake free...couldn't wake up. He could see them as clear as day. Every feature made them look like the real thing, and at the moment he thought they were the real things. The yellow skin, the males with a mane of light brown, their cold icy eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul. Their huge paws and at the end of them nasty looking set of claws. Their incredibly sharp teeth, all the way down to their carcass breathe. It was all so real, too real.

It was the final blow. The lions had cornered his battered self. He was completely bloody, claw and bite marks covered his skin. Chunks of fur had been removed and nasty gashes replaced the empty spots. His tail had been bitten off completely but that was the least on his mind at the moment. He was breathing heavy and he felt deep pain. A male lion, the wretched thing, walked into the middle of the circle. Evil in his eyes and a very evil smile that showed some of his teeth. It charged and right when it landed the final blow, Shuin's eyes snapped open. He stunk of fear and he had been sweating.

The first thing to meet his eyes were the eyes of a strange feline, but the only thing that registered was feline, which his mind then changed it into feline, species lion. "LION!!" Shuin roared and rolled off to the side, flinching at the imaginary wounds he had sustained during the fight. Once he got back on his paws he was gone, flying off like a bullet. Unfortunately, he met the same tree that he had the first time and did the exact same thing as earlier. In the end he was stuck back up on the same branch, his eyes darting everywhere for the lions. A rare moment had just happened. Not that the feline would know this, but Shuin had actually shown some emotion. In fact, his eyes still held the fear he was now feeling. He finally spotted the feline again and backed away a few steps, a little uncertain of who and what it was. Was it with the lions, did they plan to kill him by using this new feline as a distraction? Maybe they were behind him, waiting for him to back up after spotting the feline! Shuin then quickly walked to the very edge of the branch and looked over his shoulder...nothing but trees were there.

He then refocused on the feline. "Are you working with the lions?!" Shuin called out, a hint of fear still noticeable in his voice.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos' nose twitched as the smell of fear began to waft from the wolf's form. He didn't know what the wolf was dreaming about, but it must have been something bad. The wolf's eyes snapped open, took one look at the petite cat sitting in front of him, and he took off back up the tree again. The house-cat-sized feline rolled his eyes as he wondered how the wolf would get down this time. "No dumb dog, I'm not working with lions. If anything they would eat me on sight. For all I know you are the one working with lions." Kudos looked up into the tree at the wolf with an amused expression on his face. He then shook his head as a small laugh escaped his maw. "Now listen wolf, if you back up any farther out onto that treebranch it is going to break, and if you black out again I will just leave." The ocelot walked up to the tree and clutched it with his front claws. He dug the sharp tips into the bark, testing how rough it was. He didn't feel that his claws were quite sharp enough, so he traced them up and down a few times, digging gouges into the tree. The chips on his claws peeled away, exposing fresh, sharp claw material, ready to climb the tree again. Kudos dropped his front paws down to the ground and stared up into the top of the tree with a determined look on his face. His hind leg muscles then bunched up and he launched himself up halfway to the treebranch that the wolf was occupying. His claws gripped the bark tightly and he then lurched upwards, moving quickly up the tree. When the branch was next to him he dropped off of the trunk of the tree onto the branch. He stalked up to the wolf, his eyes on the canine the whole time. If he made any move to attack Kudos, the feiline only had to leap off of the branch to safety. "Ok wolf, watch me closely this time. I'll explain everything to you again. All you have to do is lauch yourself out into the air, you don't want the treebranch to hit you on your way down or you'll be spiriling all the way down. Second, make sure that you don't watch the ground or when you make contact you will smash your nose into the ground, that woud hurt. Third, make sure that your paws are pointing toward the ground at all times, no spinny back flop things like you did last time. And finally, when you are falling make sure that you bend your knees or you just might shatter them." Kudos had begun to pace back and forth as he was giving his lecture, sounding almost like a drill sergant. He loved to boss bigger creatures around, and he loved the feeling of power when he felt he knew more then someone else. "Now I'm gonna give you a demonstration, and I'm only gonna do this one more time. If you run back up this tree again, I'm outta here and you can figure out how to get down by yourself." At that, Kudos gracefully leapt away from the tree, pointed his paws toward the ground, bent his knees, and waited the second and a half for impact. It came just as he had expected and, when his paws were firmly on the ground, he looked up to the wolf with a show-offy look in his bright golden eyes. "Now it's your turn wolf." Kudos sincerely hoped that the wolf wouldn't mess up again, as he wanted to have shown others that a feline could indeed teach a canine something.

[Trick]

Shuin squinted at the cat after his words. What if he wanted him to think he wasn't working with the lions and once he got down they'd swarm all over him and tear him to pieces? What if he...no, no Shuin couldn't think like that. If he wanted to get out of the tree then he'd just have to trust the feline on the ground. After all felines climbed up and down trees all the time, if he was going to get out again he'd have to trust one. It did have a point after all, he didn't doubt that the lions would probably eat him up once they found him.

Shuin watched the cat's every move as it went about sharpening its claws and jumping up into the tree. His fear soon disappeared and he was once again that emotionless wolf. He listened carefully to the feline's words and watched as it jumped from the tree and landed without a problem. Shuin began to realize why dogs never climbed trees, it was hard to climb up and even harder tog et back down, sometimes getting down was painful too. He did exactly what the cat did. He leapt forward, pointed his paws to the ground, closed his eyes, bent his knees and waited for the painful landing. When he felt the ground hit his paws, his knees bent and nothing happened. No pain, no blacking out, and most importantly no lions coming to devour him whole.

He sat there for a few moments, his eyes still closed. he expected to be torn apart any second but when that didn't come he opened an eye and looked around. Nothing but the cat was around. He opened the other eye and looked again but still no lions. "Well, I guess you weren't working for the lions. Thank you cat. My name is Shuin by the way. What is yours if you don't mind me asking?" Shuin asked, his eyes still darting around for any hint of an ambush.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos watched with approving eyes as the wolf followed his every word, but was a little confused when the wolf still wouldn't open his eyes once he hit the ground. He was just about to speak when the wolf opened his eyes. "Hello Shuin, my name is Kudos. And I'm not a cat, cats live with humans, there's a big difference between them and wild cats like me. I'm an ocelot." Kudos watched as the wolf's eyes continued to scan the surroundings for any other creatures. The ocelot looked around quickly as well, but didn't see anything. "Uhhhh... What are you looking for?"

[Trick]

His eyes focused on the cat, or now Ocelot. It looked like one of those house cats the two-legers or what this Ocelot was calling humans, but it did have subtle differences like its coloring and spots. It also had that wild look in its eyes that house cats didn't. Shuin always wondered why cats and even dogs joined with the humans. He had seen a town before, or at least the outer regions. He had visited a farm out of curiosity and was met with a small yapper dog which said it was a Terrier, whatever that was. It had a mouth that one, and what's more it thought it was bigger then it really was. All it took was a show of fangs and the little yaper ran off. The house cat wasn't easily scared however. It was a wise one and held its ground...in a tree.

Shuin suddenly snapped back to the present with a shake of his head. "Well one can not be too careful Kudos. You never know what's waiting around the corner. Now, can I ask where I have ended up? I bolted into this forest without knowing what it was even called. Further more, do you know of any good places to stay the night that are lion free?" Shuin asked and looked up into the trees. He never could fully understand why cats loved climbing trees. The idea struck him as weird. Why would one want to climb up a tree just to have to be able to climb back down some time later? It just didn't make sense. "Cats, what can you expect?"

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos looked around quickly, looking at the treetops and the birds flitting around inside of them. "To tell you the truth," the ocelot looked down at the ground, "I really don't know. It's just a rainforest, and I was gonna call it home, but I don't know who runs this place." He then looked around quickly, staring at the many trees and bushes that surrounded them. "No, I don't know anywhere that you could stay the night. To tell you the truth," a small smile crossed Kudos' face, "I would have slept in one of these many trees. And I don't think you would want to go back up in any of those do you?"

[Trick]

"Who runs the place? You mean we could be inside a pack or prides territory? Well that's just great...we could get ambushed if we aren't careful." Shuin's voice was calm but on the inside his mind was frantically whirling around. What if they really were on someone's territory? What happened if they didn't like visitors? That wasn't good, not good at all. Shuin would have to be on his paws if he didn't want to get ambushed.

What was worse was that the cat had no idea where he could stay. The thought of sleeping in a tree sent shivers down his spine. How could cats sleep up a tree and not worry about falling down to the ground in their sleep? When Shuin had nightmares, he often tossed and turned, there would be nothing to stop him from tossing himself out of the tree. Who knows what hunted at night...well actually he did. All wolves and big cats did that. Bears sometimes did when they were hungry. "Bears...I hadn't thought of them. They are a problem, but I can't bother with thinking about them right now."

"No, I never want to be in a tree again. I can't see how you felines like trees, or can even sleep in one. Do you not worry about falling out of one in a bad dream? And if you did, would you wake up before you hit the ground, or would you just land and get knocked out?" Shuin asked blankly. He was curious as to how they pulled it off.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Kudos looked up with a thoughtful look across his face. "To tell you the truth... I don't know how we stay up in the trees. We just find a nice crotch branch, crouch down in it, and sleep. I don't remember the last time I dreamed either though." His thoughtful look dissapeared. "And yes, we are indeed, most likely, in someone's territory." His head swiveled back and forth a few times. "We just haven't met them yet." Kudos suddenly stood and began to walk away from the wolf deeper into the jungle. His golden eyes scanned the thick foliadge, looking for a nice cave or something for the wolf to stay in. "Well, C'mon! I'm off to find you a nice cave to stay in, unless you would rather stay out in the open where your lions can get you." He turned his head back to see if the wolf was following. If it was, he would continued walking, if it wasn't... well... he would just find a nice sun patch and soak up some rays.