Look What The Cat Dragged In!
The sudden and quite literal change in her quarry was not something the beast could have anticipated, but it did surprise her. Unfortunately, for the both of them, it’s quite difficult for a charging animal to suddenly stop in its tracks. Although she tried, her claws digging into the ground, she watched as the wolf whipped around and growled at her, but the side of her body swung around at him, colliding against his front.
Gathering her barrings, uncertain of what was happening, the lion only knew to move away and observe. Once her momentum slowed, the harsh knock against the other creature’s body was enough force to push herself away from and bounce a few steps back. Chuffing, confused, she shook her mane out, eyeing the newfound werewolf, wondering where the little man had gone to that she was chasing.
It didn’t seem to register to her that he had in fact turned into the wolf in front of her, but instead she speculated it had either gotten in her way, or stole her food somehow without her being able to see. Grumbling, she whined at him, debating in her short-lived thoughts on what course of action to take next. Was this wolf-thing a threat? She had seen some before and sometimes they tried to take a bite out of her, but usually they were in groups, and sometimes they weren’t so big.
Standing there now, a few good leaps and bounds away from him still, back arched and tail twitching from side to side, she just stared at him, waiting to see if he attacked, ran, or did anything else for her to act on. He had gotten in her way for some reason or another, though she couldn’t figure out why.
The wolf tensed, confused and alarmed, at the exact moment the lion slammed into it like a ton of bricks. Hitting was bad! Hitting was not diplomatic! It stumbled down a few steps, bristling and snarling, and dropped into a defensive crouch, claws flexing against the stone in a futile attempt to push back. Nothing was going to move the lion but the lion, though, and the wolf took advantage of her brief retreat to sidestep in a wary counterpoint to the great cat's back-twisting posture.
Alright, diplomacy had clearly broken down. The wolf unwound from its cautious crouch, reluctant to display submission when the lion was clearly not interested in establishing positive cross-species communication, and stood up as tall as possible, hackled raised, claws displayed in a broad arc. It followed up a sharp warning shriek with a short howl which would have summoned packmates if it had any, and lunged at the lion, stopping short of her and snapping at the air.
That would show her.
