Andréa found herself within the branches of the gargantuan trees of the jungle. Having just woken up from a nap, she was still lazing around on said branch, ears flicking at the humming of the bugs and the bird song. Her tail flicked every few moments, and she had a small, content smile plastered on her face. She liked living out here, with very few others bothering her. Sure, she had seen a few lions here or there, but at the moment, she wasn’t too concerned. There didn’t seem to be that many of them, at least not at the moment. So the Jaguar was not opposed to living there. Her grey eyes scanned the forest floor, still half-drooped, as she attempted to get the motivation to move, yet her mind would not yet allow herself to stand or stretch.
Her jaws stretched wide as she yawned, teeth glinting in what little bits of light peeked through the canopy. It was fairly warm, with the steam circulating, as it was only a bit past noon. Perhaps she should go and hunt soon, she thought to herself. She grumbled for a few moments before stretching out on the branch, shaking out her pelt for a few moments. She seemed to have nasty luck sometimes with hunting. The animals liked to spot the white bits of her pelt, no matter how hard she tried. She wasn’t starving, but it wasn’t exactly often that she found herself full. Sighing, the female made her way to the lower branches of the tree, climbing slowly and almost like she was being forced to.
The woman’s ear twitched as she heard a slight rustling, pausing on her descent for a few moments, before continuing. It may have been a bird simply disturbed by her and taking flight, then she heard it again. By now, the jaguar was on the lowest branch, and she stopped moving, bringing her body close to the wood. She paused, staring out ahead of her, curious and nervous all at the same time. What could it be? She waited with bated breath, trying to stay as calm as possible.
The jungle was somewhere Devonte found himself recently returning to. Maybe it was the fact the weather seemed perfect up here, especially for his sort of pelt. Tthere were so many good trees to climb, and lots of pools to dunk himself in if the humudity got under his skin, and lots of interesting plant life to muse over.
He pads through the undergrowth with a swing to his step, lost in his own world. Devonte had a song on his lips, a ragged off-tune hum of some made-up notes trailing after his meander. He had woken late that morning, having struck a lucky find of some big carcass the evening prior in the plains. Old food was food, and years of rogue life had left him with a strong stomach.
Passing over a fallen log with a big "Hrrrk." of effort, Devonte landed heavily and became aware of the peculiar sensation he was being watched. The Jaguar paused mid-step, ears pricking as his hum stopped. He peered around him, turning in a careful circle as he viewed the mossy tree trunks around him. Now that he focused, there was an unfamiliar scent here! But... where was it coming from. With a puzzled look on his spotted face, Devonte warily watchec the undergrowth. "Hullo?" he chuffed out, entirely unaware the presence he had picked up on was above him.
The jaguar continued to press herself against the branch, and when the other’s eyes roamed around, she stood completely still, and extremely stiff. It was mind boggling to her she had not been noticed, and she breathed a small sigh of relief. She took the moment to examine the other from her vantage point. Her gray eyes narrowed as she examined the tuft of hair, there was no way that was a lion, was it? Besides, she’d never seen a lion look so much like a jaguar. He was a male, by the smell of him, and only a bit taller then herself, though, his body stretched further. Seeing as he was a male, he surely weighed more, he was also an adult probably around her age, but she couldn’t be for sure.
The presence of another of her species did calm her nerves a little bit. The fact he didn’t notice her probably meant he wasn’t too observant, and the fact that he spoke a greeting meant he wasn’t actively looking for a fight. Slowly, and carefully, she leapt down from the branch, landing several feet from him. Her tail swept up behind her and flicked towards her side.
“Hola…” she spoke cautiously, looking at him through her narrowed gray orbs. The female paused for a few moments, and, assuming he spoke English, spoke again. “Is this your territory?” She asked, a foreign accent to her low voice. Every few moments, her tail would twitch and switch to her other side, almost like nervous clockwork. She really did hope she hadn’t gotten into this male’s space, she didn’t know if she could fight when she was just waking up. Plus, it was really nice in the jungle, and she didn’t want to give it up. Of course, this space wasn’t hers, she was willing to share as long as others were.
The sudden rustle of leaves and the creak of a branch above him drew Devonte's attention upwards. As a white-splashed spotted cat dropped onto the earth before him, his brow lifted in suprise. She was a jaguar, Devonte realised as he peered at her. There was no denying the similarity in their markings.
Politely, Devonte's ears pricked as the stranger spoke, her accented voice cautious. "Howdy." he murmured with still lingering suprise. It was then he realised he had been asked a question. "Ah, no this ain't mine. I'm just a vagabond." he gave a confident grin, whiskers lifting. "Gotta admit, I wasn't expectin' anyone to come outta the trees. Those bigger cats don't seem too fond of it and that seems to be all I've met lately." Unexpected company was still company, and Devonte was never unhappy to meet a new face. "You hiding from something? You seem mighty wound up, if you don't mind me saying." Was she just the nervous sort, or was she escaping some sort of trouble?
Andréa’s ear twitched in acknowledgement of his greeting. Her whole body relaxing as he explained it wasn’t his territory, and she gave him a momentary smile in response to his. ’a vagabond? What an interesting way to describe yourself.’ Her tail had stopped its rhythmic twitching eventually, coming to rest behind her.
Andréa returned a nod to his comment about the other cats, smiling slightly in amusement. His concern was a bit unexpected to her, and she glanced away for a moment. Her grey eyes turned back to his, “I am not hiding, but I woke up from a nap and heard you coming into the jungle…” she chuckled a bit, “I was not sure who or what was approaching, and I was still half-asleep.” She shrugs slightly, glancing around the grove again, “it’s quite nice here, hm? Reminds me a little bit of my old home.” There was no bitterness in her voice, just fondness of the environment. “It’s definitely much warmer here then in some of the other places.” She shakes her head in disgust. The southern region was so cold, she hated it, she had been raised in warm climates, and had never seen any place quite as diverse in temperature and different environments.
Ohh, she had been napping? Devonte's expression flickered into one of vague guilt, an ear twisting to the side. "'pologies if I disturbed you," he uttered with a rueful grin. That being said, he was pleased for the company. He hadn't spoken to another of his own species in a long while and the impromptu meeting was welcome.
With an agreeable dip of his spotted head, Devonte was quick to reply "The weather is great, for sure." he rumbled, "I ain't too fond of the south myself. All that ice," he shook his head, "It's too chilly for me." Open plains and temperate forests were his personal favourite, but a good old romp along the coast was never unwelcomed. Devonte could get along fine anywhere that had good food and interesting company.
"You been around these parts long?" he prodded. He was a nosy guy, but only because it was the way he'd learnt to get to know people.
Andréa shook her head at his look of regret, smiling slightly, “I was already awake, it is fine.” She still seemed to be keeping about a meter from the other jaguar, no longer nervous, but uncertain how much space the other preferred. But it was nice, speaking to someone who was the same species. He was close to her height, which made her feel less uncomfortable. She smiled slightly at his responses.
Yes, it was definitely too cold, she was glad he felt the same way, though she wasn’t exactly shocked, they were cats of warmth, after all. She was fairly certain this grove was her favorite part of the jungle, at least so far. Although, she had scouted the jungle fairly well, so she was fairly certain no place was better for her.
Andréa shook her head at his question, ”Not very long, no, just before the time the snow started melting, really…”
She quirked her head slightly, ”and what about you?”She realized she didn’t even know his name.
”Apologies for my rudeness… I’m Andréa, and how about you, Señor?”
"Well that makes me feel a lot less guilty," Devonte joked with an easygoing grin, settling himself into a seated position. They seemed to be agreeing on a lot of things in their short encounter so far, and the spotted man was pleased.
"Same, pretty much." he mused, "I do a lot of wandering here and there, that sorta thing. So when I saw a new route had opened up through those mountains," he nodded to himself, recalling the journey, "I jus' couldn't resist taking a peek." Another toothy, relaxed grin. He liked what he'd seen so far.
"Pleasure to meet you, miss Andrea. Name's Devonte." he dipped his head politely. "You ain't rude at all. Trust me when I say I've seen many a nasty piece of work and you don't seem t' be one." Maybe a bold claim considering they had only just met, but first impressions were thus far great.
"So if you've only jus' gotten to these parts, can I ask where ya' came from?" he pried with well-meaning curiosity flickering in his mismatched eyes.
Andréa shared a smile with him, finding his company agreeable so far. He seemed to be a sweet jaguar, and she was glad. She tried not to imagine a scenario where he was much more awful. Although, this could be all an act. She wouldn’t put it past someone to do such a thing. In fact, she had lied for her own perceived safety before.
The smile twitched in the corners at his compliment, and she was flattered, “thank you very much, Señor… I think you’re not bad yourself,” As the conversation turned to a new question, her assumptions were made correct, “oh here and there… I didn’t really have a home, I wandered with my mother until I was two.. then went off on my own, found this place about four seasons later… and I think it may be a nice place to stay,” she quickly pressed on, “at least for now, that is.” No need to get anyone’s hopes up or anything.
“And where are you from? You said you were a vagabond…” her grey eyes lit up with curiosity.
[googlefont="Francois One"] Devonte strove to be a beacon of positivity, and as childish of a goal as it was... it made him content to hear his impression had been good. With natural, relaxed interest he listened to Andrea's reply. It was a story he'd heard a couple times from other loners (at least the ones who had wanted to share) and he nodded understandingly. "I hope it might be too." he rumbled with a grin, "Nothin big with teeth has pounced me outta the shadows yet, so that's probably a good sign, hmm?" he gave a chuckle. "Always scary, leavin the nest hmm? Or were you eager t' explore?" He had, surprisingly been a timid boy when he had left his own mother... but it had made him resourceful and once he had realised how open the world was, he had felt much better of it.
With a flick of his ear, he fielded Andrea's returning question with a thoughtful look. "I'm from a deep forest tribe, far from here. My mama didn't get along too well with thems sort, so I split with her before I was a year. N' then she split from me a bit later. Been wandering ever since." He grinned again, "I've been many places. Before here, I was wanderin' with a mountain group that was kind enough to let me hunt with 'em." It had been sad to move on, especially from the cheeky cubs who had adored his stories. But such was the tale of wanderlust. "I reckon these coasts will keep me busy for a while. Seems to be a lot of interestin' persons about." Arguably he was getting to the age where he should've been looking for stability... but it wasn't as satisfying. "But, who knows, eh?"""
Devonte strove to be a beacon of positivity, and as childish of a goal as it was... it made him content to hear his impression had been good. With natural, relaxed interest he listened to Andrea's reply. It was a story he'd heard a couple times from other loners (at least the ones who had wanted to share) and he nodded understandingly. "I hope it might be too." he rumbled with a grin, "Nothin big with teeth has pounced me outta the shadows yet, so that's probably a good sign, hmm?" he gave a chuckle. "Always scary, leavin the nest hmm? Or were you eager t' explore?" He had, surprisingly been a timid boy when he had left his own mother... but it had made him resourceful and once he had realised how open the world was, he had felt much better of it.