something unexpected [IRONY]

[jetta]

DHARA
Where is my mistress? The thought crossed a females mind. All the humans had disappeared, but this spotted dog had no idea where they went. It didn't seem like any of the dogs knew where their owners had gone. Dhara, her mistress had called her. The aching pain of remembering struck like a knife. The dalmatian sat down and swam in her grief. Becoming bored, her stomach rumbled at her, telling Hara to eat something. But what was there to eat? She had never learned to hunt or scavenge, always being fed by the humans. Anyway, any good food from their trash was probably rotten. Wandering around with hope that some stranger would find her and give her some help.

Tired and dehydrated, Dhara sat down. The warm spring sun felt nice on her spotted fur, and she decided to lay down in the grass. Soon, sleep overcame her and filled her mind with sweet memories of her mistress.

[irony]

Kaptain had been a few years without his old master, now, and the pain of his absence had never completely gone – merely rotted into a dull throb that he could bury deep down in his gut. Life without the comfort of home and handler had been tough and dangerous, but he was always a self-sufficient animal, luckily given plenty of training in hunting and field work in his youth. He was by no means helpless, even if his heart was broken.

Those skills had helped him out rather significantly this fine spring day. He’d spent most of the morning rooting around rabbit warrens and had caught himself a couple of small coneys. The first had hardly been a mouthful, and he’d eaten it bones, fur, and all in his hunger. Even with a full gut he couldn’t resist the urge to jump and race after another young rabbit as it leaped out of its hole. Prey drive was a hard instinct to ignore.

His legs pumped, tongue lolling from his face, muscles flexing and stretching as he tore across the grass. The rabbit swerved this way and that, then stopped suddenly in its tracks. It reared with a scream and tore off in the opposite direction.

“What in-.”

Kaptain skidded to a halt, his sides heaving. A dalmation, of all things, was stretched out in the grass in front of him. Neither he nor the rabbit had noticed her until they were nearly on top of her.

Kaptain snorted, curling one lip upward in annoyance. He let out a gruff, quick growl and plopped his bottom down in the grass.

“Well, there’s a meal lost.”

[jetta]

DHARA
The scream of a rabbit slowly entered her sleepy thoughts, dull and quiet, as Dhara's mind was elsewhere. It nearly landed on top of her, but still she did not flinch. Her brown eyes were open, but staring off into space as if she was dead. It felt like she was a zombie; still alive, but no will to live. Another dog's scent reached her nose. A male for sure, but she didn't even lift her eyes. Hara heard him flop down in the cool grass, and growl. "Well, let me apologize for me just resting here." Her mean attitude around males kicked in, yet her eyes never wavered, she didn't move anything but her mouth.

Groaning from lying on the uneven ground, instead of her cozy dog bed at home, Dhara got up and stretched her long legs. She looked him up and down, trying to get some sort of information about him. The male looked somewhat like her. But she had a beautiful spotted coat (but she was fond of his coat as well) and was a small bit larger. She shot him a glare for disturbing her rest and peacefulness."What do you want?" Hara snapped, letting her temper break loose a little. A growl followed her words, allowing herself to be the mean female she was.

[irony]

“No need to apologize, miss,” still, he snapped the sentiment. His hunt cut short and the dal’s unpleasant tone pricked irritatingly at his temper. He let out a gruff snort and snapped his cool, amber eyes on her.

Something was obviously amiss with the bitch. Surely the presence of a rabbit would get any dog’s spirits up, especially one who seemed as lean as she. Was she lame? Injured? He lowered his head in her direction and inhaled. No… no she smelled alright. Finding himself being inspected right back, Kaptain straightened up and jerked his head high. Paws planted firmly, lips tight, and gaze strong.

At her second snap, Kaptain leapt back to his feet. The docked length of his tail was erect, carried high and straight over his back. He narrowed his eyes a bit and garrumphed under his breath.

“I was hoping for that rabbit, but it seems I’ll have to do without.” There were plenty more where that came from, and, being spring, dozens of young rabbits who hadn’t yet learned how to dodge the advances of a seasoned hunter. Kaptain was no lurcher, and he’d do very poorly against an older rabbit, but these young ones were easy game.

He still had a few flecks of red staining his lips from his earlier meal.

[jetta]

DHARA
It was uncomfortable being looked at. She turned and stuck her snooty nose into the air. Her stomach rumbled once more, but she ignored it. "Hmph. Well sorry for scaring off your prey." Hara mumbled to the male. Looking around for something to eat, she saw many rabbits scampering around in the grass. Memories of walks in the park and visiting the zoo came back. "I'm sorry.. I'm just a little upset about my mistress being gone." The apology sounded hollow, but she really was sorry.

Attempting to hunt was incredibly embarrassing for the spotted female, and Dhara didn't want to get her paws dirty. But she was very hungry, and couldn't wait to eat. "If you could teach me to hunt, I could get you a rabbit." she suggested. Hara doubted any of her first kills would be good, but it was worth a shot. Here it came, the face she used to beg for scraps. She hoped she could learn to hunt, to have some hope of survival.