Knonaln Grassland

It was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping and hopping in and out of the tall grass, plucking seeds. Althea scoffed at their unfortunate presence. They were definitely a potential threat to her hunt. Althea gracefully allowed herself to be absorbed into the grass so that she would be completely hidden from her future prey. Every step was placed strategically by Althea in order to keep herself immersed in the unknown. A lone bison calf wandered aimlessly through the grassland. The huntress made certain to avoid the area where the birds had been while still aiming towards the calf's current path. She planned to wait ahead of the small creature and make her move once it wandered too close. This act took precision and perfect timing. She reached her planned position in a bush that the calf would pass in approximately 1 minute. Althea's haunches tensed in their pouncing position and her head hung low. As the calf approaches her eyes slant, searching for that one perfect opportunity and when it came the lioness' tail twitched, signaling herself to leap from her placing. The calf was dead about 30 seconds after she had torn its esophagus. A sudden thought crossed her mind. Why had the calf been so isolated? The though lead Althea to lift her cranium and examine her surroundings. The grassland was not the same. An unexpected massacre had obviously occurred. Mauled bison and wildebeest scattered the land. A fully grown, large, male bison sat dead ahead of where she had slaughtered the calf. She approached it carefully and cautiously. Her copper audits perked forward. The large bull bison lay torn to shreds. Some predator had taken a bite or two but left the rest to the vultures. Who would waste such a difficult meal to obtain? But this bison seems to have been taken out with ease since the rest of the herd had been massacred. Althea noticed a patch of discolored blood dried on the bull buffalo's horn. What ever predator had massacred this herd had not gotten away uninjured. A small blood trail led into the forest. Althea followed it for a couple feet to come across a puddle. An overly large feline paw print had left its mark in the reddish mud. Whatever had managed such an act was something many times the size of the lioness. This information must be reported immediately. Althea's ears pinned to her neck as she sprinted swiftly and gracefully back into the forest, projecting herself through the brush in search of her comrades.

Vitani stalks into the grasslands, from the vast amount of terrain of scattered trees. She didn't pay any attention to much as she strolled calmly through the opening of the forest and into the plains. Vitani had just returned from the plateaus of mosux and came here in hopes to catch a small meal. She perks her ears slightly smelling a familiar and unwanted presence, Althea. Vitani lets out a low yet quiet roar from her throat as she continued at a slow pace out into the open. The birds above danced around in the blue sea, chirping and showed a carefree life, her ears twitched slightly as she listened to the chirping birds as they flittered around, hopping around in the trees collecting food for themselves or for their offspring. Vitani scoffed, "hmph, what a miserable way to spend your life. Pathetic creatures." she grumbled to herself as she watched the cheerful birds, her ears perk up as her attention sets on a small hare, she lowered her body as she started to stalk the small hopping hare.

Althea's lope came to a halt once she came across a familiar scent. "Oh what poor luck I have," Althea stated with a simple scoff. This probably the last female she wished to come across in such desperation. This will surely come back to haunt her at some point. She quietly follows the scent to where the large tigress was stationed and emerges from the shadows behind Vitani. A small white hare in front of the lioness was scared away after she revealed her presence. Vitani was obviously hunting the hare and though no emotion was shown on her countenance, Althea laughed internally. Shaking the thought she addressed the situation at hand. "Vitani," she greeted in a very serious tone, "I found something unsettling in the grasslands this morning whilst hunting. I request that you follow me to the site. I also must inform you that it is quite urgent," Althea held her nose slightly upward while addressing the tigress and her expression flashed a slight portrayal of concern that she was certain Vitani would catch. A slight ray of light shined through the tree tops on to where Vitani and Althea stood. This allowed Althea to slip back into the darkness if she wished but instead she waited patiently in the rays for the tigress to analyze the situation. Althea didn't enjoy being out in the open very much. She felt quite vulnerable.

Vitani watched as the hare darted away, her nose slightly twitched in frustration hearing the lioness herself. Vitani was ready to snap at Althea, but instead she heard the seriousness in her tone and decided to hear things out, she contemplated whether or not to ignore it or not but saw the concern flash upon the lioness' face. Vitani let out a low roar again from irritation, "Fine. Show me." she said shortly, standing up straight from her crouched position from when she was hunting her prey. Vitani shook her pelt as she smelled the air, she could smell death, lots of it. Her tail lashed as she waited for Althea to show her the way.

Althea crept steadily through the small forest and into the grasslands. After being absorbed into the grass yet again she tilted her head backwards to check if Vitani was still on her trail. The huntress followed the same path she had chosen to catch the young bison, weaving through the tall grass as if she were a snake until she reached the clearing. The young bison was still fresh and obviously killed more cleanly then the other shredded buffalo. Althea smirked at her fine work but it quickly turned into a frown of disgust. Whatever had massacred the buffalo had absolutely no consideration for cleanliness. "Pay no mind to the young one. That is the calf that had lead me here," Althea said proceeding forward to the mess of what used to be a herd. She allowed Vitani to pass her and proceed in personal investigation. Althea paced slowly over to the paw print and rested her haunches adjacent to it. She waited patiently for Vitani's investigation to lead her to Althea's current position.

Vitani followed slowly as she walked through the grass, she looked upon the many dead carcasses of what used to be a bison herd. Her stomach turned but kept the emotionless gaze as an expression. Vitani ventured throughout the herd examining the carcasses, looking at the slash marks of massive claws, her ears turned slightly seeing the carcasses after thorough search, she went to where Althea was, despite the hate she had for the feline, she knew they must work together to figure this out. Vitani allowed her eyes to lower to the gigantic paw print before her. "what king of feline creates a paw this massive..." She mumbled to herself, tail swaying slowly behind her.

"I'm assuming a ruthless one considering the mess," Althea said with a slight scoff, "There is a blood trail leading into the forest from the paw print's position. There are also calf hoof marks so perhaps the beast was chasing it. I suggest we follow these tracks carefully," Althea stood up and pointed her slender body towards the direction that the tracks led. She narrowed her eyes slightly and shifted her paws. She was slightly weary about following the prints. Avoiding portrayal of her uneasiness she proceeded to walk in the direction that the tracks followed. Althea's tail drifted slowly back in forth with the rhythm of her stride as she walked.

Vitani slightly bared her teeth at the scoff, she nodded in agreement, she removed any emotions that may have hinted on her expression and followed the prints, her body not showing any caution or fear, inwardly chuckling at Althea due to her uneasiness. She follows the prints all the way up to the Bripek Highlands. "it looks like the feline has headed to Bripek." Vitani said shortly, out of all people why did it have to be Althea of all felines, she disliked this one the most.