:: might find a way ::

[camas]

The day had dawned bright and clear, nary a cloud in the sky which was preferable to Camas than the less enjoyable cold winds and rain. As the bull stood upon a crag, he lifted his head up to the small breeze and took in the smells that flew around him. His large eyes closed as he compartmentalized each scent and made sure nothing dangerous was around him. Lowering his head after this, Camas slowly continued his descent down the mountainside to where the forest was, intent upon getting some breakfast. It had been about a year since the wolves attacked his bachelor band and he'd escaped by splitting up with the rest of the young bulls. A lone existence, sure, but at least he was alive. That was all that really mattered in the long run. He barely made a sound before he entered the woods and then he made no sound due to the ground cover. Finding a patch of grass, he lowered his head and started to graze.

( o p e n . t o . a n y o n e )

[Trick]

His hot breaths steamed in the chilly air. He didn't normally like the cold, but he didn't care at the moment. Leaving his herd behind to go out and explore the surrounding areas may have not been the best choice, but he couldn't resist his need to explore any longer. Leaving the care of the herd in Flame's paws, he left his territory and herd mates behind. Where he was now was a mystery to him and he enjoyed every second of it. Exploring was just something this cat loved to do.

Zeal slowly walked trough the forest, taking in all of the sights and smells that he could. This kind of information would be helpful to him the next time he was in the area. His nostrils flared as a new scent was carried in the wind that hit him dead smack in the face. The scent of an unknown animal. Well that was enough to perk his curiosity and he started to make his way to whatever it was.

The orange black striped tiger seemed to come from no where as he appeared from behind a tree not to far from the bull Elk. His stance screamed leader as he stood there, making sure he kept his distance. He studied it for a few moments, looking at its antlers and the size of it. It looked like an over sized deer...perhaps it was just that? Zeal cleared his throat to get its attention before he tried locking eyes with it.

"Hello there, nice chilly day out wouldn't you agree? I was hoping you could answer a question of mine...what species are you? You look like a giant deer." Zeal began to hope that this deer or whatever it was didn't bolt. Usually prey animals always got so scared and ran at even the scent of a preditor...of course Zeal didn't blame them not one bit.

[camas]

Camas smelled the big cat before it showed itself and he tensed, but did not run. Running did nothing but entice the cat to chase and he did not need that right now. When he turned his head, chewing the cud in his mouth, he watched the tiger lazily approach him. The scent told him it was a cat, but he had never seen such a cat before. His eyes remained locked upon the feline form as it neared his grazing spot and stopped. Flicking his ears lightly, he turned so that his body was fully facing the cat. Then it spoke and if he'd had eyebrows, they would have been raised in surprise. It wasn't going to attack him, apparently.

"Yes, it is a rather nice day actually." Was he thinking about bolting? Certainly, but he was no coward, even in the face of such a danger like this cat may turn out to be. "I am an Elk. Rocky Mountain variety, to be precise. And you? I have never before seen a striped cat before, only the tawny prowlers of the mountains." He was speaking of cougars, of course. He'd certainly had his fair share of those beasts and always managed to beat them off of him, with only a few minor s-blocked-es to his hide. This one was much bigger than a cougar and striped. He was sure it was not the same.

[Trick]

Zeal grinned at the...Elks' reply. It had never seen a tiger before. He should have known that. If he didn't know what it was, then how should such a thing know what a tiger was? An Elk...yep he was sure he had never come across one. Something that large would make a great meal, and Zeal was sure he would have remembered if he had taken down something like this before. He mentally told himself to quit thinking along those lines, he didn't want to get hungry and attack this thing. Those antlers looked sharp and the bull looked strong.

What was it talking about when it mentioned tawny predators? Zeal just shrugged that off, he'd have to ask later. "I am a tiger, and as far as I know we are the biggest cat around. Now if you hadn't met one of us before...it makes me wonder why you haven't bolted off yet. Usually when one sees us...well it's usually too late by then, but when we want to be seen, yes that's more like it, when we want to be seen, prey animals just flee. As far as I can tell you are a large and risky animal to take down, but you still are prey. You must have some courage, and that's very good. For not running away I will introduce myself. My name is Zeal, leader of the herd Zilanthin." Zeal introduced himself with his head held high and his tail curled at the end, not touching the ground even once. He took pride in his leadership and was not afraid to show it.

[camas]

Camas s-blocked-ed a foreleg in the ground and caused some of the shale rocks to scurry away from him, continue down the rocky slope. His nostrils flared as the cat seemed to look him up and down, and for a fleeting moment his muscles bunched as if he wanted to bolt away, for fear that the cat was intending to make a meal of him. However, the tiger stopped looking at him like that and spoke.

He said he was a tiger, not that he would know right or wrong, considering he'd never met one. Then he spoke of his bravery in not turning tail and bolting. Bravery or stupidity, he hadn't decided which yet. He would go with bravery for now, it pleased the cat at least. He then gave his name and mentioned a place he was leader of. Storing that away for later use, he bowed his head marginally to the cat. "Thank you for the vote of confidence and praise, Zeal. I am called Camas and I have wandered here after being separated from my bachelor band. I find that being alone makes one... rather lonely." He chuckled at that and then chewed his cud again. "What is Zilanthin?"

[Trick]

Zeal nodded, he could attest to that. Being alone for a while would make anyone seek company. What was a... bachelor band? Zeal began pondering over the meaning of such a thing. Well if he was separated from it, it must be some kind of group, more of his species no doubt.

Zeal smiled at his question. He was glad he asked such a thing. "Well Camus, Zilanthin is a clan. The clan has its own large territory for its members. Now inside of a clan are herds. So far to my knowledge there is only one herd in the clan of Zilanthin, and that's mine. A herd can consist of any species of animal. Prey and predator alike join the same herd and basically look out for each other. Meat eaters don't eat herd or clan members, and plant eaters don't have to worry about the constant threat of getting eaten...well at least from members of the same herd anyway. When any member is in trouble it just has to seek out a fellow member to help solve the problem. We look out for each other and help out in any way we can." Zeal nodded as he explained things the best that he could but continued to think of more to tell the elk.

"Right now the herd has five other members and all are predators. I'm trying to find some plant eaters to join but I haven't found any yet. You'd think they'd join right away hearing that Zilanthin's territory is a rainforest filled with plants and fruits...also comes with a waterfall. But of course I really haven't found a single plant eater yet...except you." Zeal told Camas with a nod and sat down. The cold Earth greeted his bum with a chill that made him sit up as straight as he could. "Now...have anymore questions?" Zeal asked and gave a yawn, revealing his canines for a brief second before his mouth closed quickly and his eyes settled upon the large elk.

[camas]

Camas was not exactly sure what this cat wanted, for sure, but the way he went on to speak of his Zilanthin, he got the impression that he was being invited to reside in this territory full of predators. He had never been scared, not like the others, of the predatory beasts that he grew up around, but something told him these would not all be those type of beasts. He tilted his head, which in turn tilted his entire rack of sharp antlers, as he thought about this.

"Your land sounds very inviting, Zeal. Tell me of the others in this herd of yours. Perhaps I shall be the first plant eater to join you if I am not overwhelmed by the predators you have there." He wasn't totally decided on joining Zeal, but he figured it would be better if he was protected by a bunch of predators rather than being chased by them. By the reaction of this cat, he felt a little downhearted with the thought that there may not be any others like him around. That would make things difficult if he wished to find a mate at some point.

"The point you make about being protected appeals to me. Let us walk and talk toward this land of yours so that I may fully understand."

[Trick]

Zeal smiled and nodded as he stood up on all fours. He doubted an elk such as Camus would fear most of the herd members. Perhaps the big cats and maybe the wolf, but that was it. He'd have to tell the elk more then just what predators there were. His herd structure was very specific and as Zeal thought about it, Camus looked like he'd fit the part of a guard pretty well. Those antlers and hooves are something that would detour most animals.

Zeal turned around, looked back and motioned his head for Camus to follow. "Come, it's this way." Zeal simply stated before he cleared his throat and started to walk. He knew Camus would probably want to keep his eyes on him every second to be safe, so he adopted a nice slow walk as he made his way back to his herd's territory.

"The other members...lets see. There is one female black panther that is called Dark Flame who is quite nice and fun. A female tiger that calls herself Silthret and seems rather pleasant. I don't know her to well though. Then there is an Ocelot named Kudos. Ocelots are small cats so no threat to you there. There is another small cat called Luna and she's alright. And finally we come to the female wolf called Teige. She...is ok for a wolf. I'm watching her though, as you might know, cats and mutts, excuse me, dogs don't get along to well and I don't need a trouble maker in my herd. She doesn't seem like one right now, but it's better safe then sorry." Zeal nodded once more as he continued to walk towards their destination.

"Hope that lineup doesn't scare you away. They really are a good group, I don't expect any trouble out of them. If you're still interested in hearing more I'll move on the herd structure. Ranks and such, like a pride or pack." Zeal explained with a smile. He did like things to be organized if they could.