The Hunt! (Open to all predators on board)

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

Rufus ran down the hallways of the ship, stopping and sniffing the air every few steps.

This was a naked mole rat on a mission.

A mission to find cheese.

No longer with his owner, the naked mole rat was seemingly vulnerable to attack, and considering the nature of the food on board, someone may want to take advantage of that fact.

Comments

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

Well would you look at that! It's some sort of mole-rat. Yes. This is perfectly normal. On a space-ship.

Hey, mole-rats are a plague on regular ships. Why not here, too? Zuko watches the rodent with his usual amount of surliness.

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

Rufus continues to poke around the ship, before coming right up to Zuko.

"Cheese?"

Okay, that can't be right. The mole rat just talked.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Zuko or Rufus might possibly notice a soft, subtle sound, possibly like pawsteps against the flesh-metal deck of the ship. Then again, they might be imagining it.

Either way, there's a wolf in a half-crouch around a nearby corner. Listening. Nose quivering. Waiting.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

The surly look turns into a pure expression of "wtf," as Zuko is distracted from the sound of an approaching predator by the talking mole rat.

"What the?"

Don't tell him Stacy's translating for animals now!

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"No cheese?" THe naked mole rat sounds depressed. Ane then he hears the paws."

"Hear that?"

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Bella freezes stiff. She even holds her breath, a trick she learned from her homid packmates.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"You mean besides you talking?"

Zuko is too intrigued, and confused, to pay much attention to his surroundings. He leans over to get a closer look at the rat. "You don't look much like a mole-rat spirit. How are you talking?"

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Hnnk, me not know. Me just smart."

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"Well." Zuko stares. "That's . . . great. Good for you. What's your name?"

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Me Rufus!"

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Rufus." Zuko bows his head, his voice and manner very serious. "My name is Prince Zuko, of the Fire Nation."

Serious, until he remembers that he's talking to a mole rat, and then he just looks frustrated again.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Bella's been stalking nearer to the corner with shocking slowness. She can hear the prey, she can smell it, she can practically taste it. The lack of proper meat here has been driving her crazy, and it doesn't even occur to Bella that something so small might be a member of the crew.

And suddenly, she charges. The wolf bounds around the corner without a sound, jumping at Rufus and aiming to catch him in her teeth.

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

A normal naked mole rat would've been dead. Rufus however, aside from his heightened intelligence, has gotten used to surprise attacks by this point.

Which is why he shouts "Yikes!", and makes a dash for Zuko's leg, running up it onto the boys shoulder. He's not Ron or Kim, but he'll do for the time being.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Bella's teeth clamp shut on thin air with a sharp click. She didn't anticipate Rufus being so quick, and in her surprise she only awkwardly manages to scramble to a stop. She jumps back, teeth bared and growling a little bit. She glares at Zuko, as if it's his fault Rufus took refuge on his shoulder.

"The prey is mine. Give it back," she says firmly.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

IT'S A WOLF. Zuko is freaked out now. But when the mole-rat spirit takes refuge on your shoulder, you hold your ground, dammit!

He has, at least, rolled into a defensive stance, crouched low, his fists clenched and ready. "Back off," he says, and puffs of flame emanate from his fists for emphasis. "This one's not for eating."

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Yeah!" Rufus says, adding in a raspberry for good measure.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Bella blinks. Did it... talk? She hadn't noticed that before. Or at least, had made herself not notice it. She snorts. "Then tell me where I may find prey. I am hungry."

And oh boy does she mean it. Bella has yet to discover the mess hall.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

For the love of - why do these things always happen to Zuko?

"There's a cafeteria two doors down that way." He shrugs to his left. "Or you could go and pretend to hunt in the Sensorium. It will taste better there."

At least the wolf is reasonable.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

"Pretending to hunt is no honor," Bella growls. "Cafeteria. What is word?"

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"A place where there's slop Stacy pretends is food." It'll fill you up, but not much else.

As for the honor thing, hey, who is he to criticize anyone's pursuit of honor?

"Is it honorable for spirits to hunt other spirits?"

He might be genuinely curious.

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

"It is an honor for the Garou to hunt spirits. Spirits feed on one another, but the Theurge of my pack knows better. I have hunted a spirit in ritual before, and then we thanked it for its sacrifice to give us gnosis."

Zuko probably understood that about as well as Bella understands the slop that Stacy pretends is food, so they should be about even now. She pauses. "The thing on your shoulder. It is spirit?"

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"No, me just Rufus."

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

No, no, he gets it. Most of it. Just not the technical terms.

He glances at Rufus. "It's . . . a mole-rat that talks." WE HAS A SPIRIT Y/N?

[withteethbared.livejournal.com]

Bella loves her some technical terms. She eyes Rufus.

"That sounds like spirit. It is a Rufus spirit?" She doesn't get it, as it happens. She's mostly directing this at Rufus himself.

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Nuhuh. Naked mole rat."

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"See? No honor here."

Zuko isn't sure WHY he's defending the little critter, other than that it talks. Which is weird.