Thread: The Zebra Retaliation (Heiress x Daltin)

Billions of years out of Africa. The world had seen the rise of man, technology and all the wonderful and horrible things they were capable of. Machines and tools that could sheer off mountain tops, create rivers, and even leave the planet. Yet, those wonderful and powerful inventions of man also led to the rise of twisted, evil men. Countless wars and ever expanding development of ways to more effectively kill one another became the driving force for many countries, and blood was the currency. For a long time, ballistics and explosives were the main source of carnage, a mere infant compared to the evil that would follow. Chemical and biological warfare ravaged the lands, ruining the soil and water in many countries. For humans that is. Realizing the inevitability of humanities demise, the greatest minds that were left took decisive and taboo action. The process began to overthrow nature herself, to plunge other species into rapid, violent evolution. The genetics of human kind were spliced over and over into animal species, those deemed the greatest potential to survive in the new world that was created. They would be immune to the diseases we had brought upon ourselves and more importantly, carry on the human genome within their DNA, safely hidden within them while also binding every single species that survived the rigors of life after the last of mankind withered to dust. That is the world we inherited, young ones. Their decaying ruins becoming out caverns and ancient cities. Scraps of law guiding us from our primitive instincts so that we could rise above what we once were, what they allowed themselves to become, grunted Kaiji, a large but elderly zebra. His long bristled hair had lost the rigid appearance of his youth, beginning to fade as it grew thinner and less powerful. Once the ruler of the tribe, he now spent his time educating the young, warning them of the dangers of life and telling the tales of their origin. Looking across the faces of the youth, retaining the long muzzles of their animalistic origins, their bodies had long abandoned the quadrupedal erection of their bodies, ribcage growing shallow, hooves vanishing from their hands where more constructive hands and fingers replaced. Still, the nails on each finger retained some of the hardness of what once was. The pattern of black and white still served to keep them cool in their home, the harsh sands of the desert. Not as deadly after the greening began, plants beginning to cover these lands, as the earth often does. Constantly shifting and changing, never stopping. From behind the elder, a confident, sometimes too confident, young voice chortled, You still thing any of that matters? So far from being simple beasts, and yet we still get hunted. Unlike the humans, those predators that came after don't care if we have a voice, or can show emotions, they hunt us just as their ancestors did for billions of years. Our only chance at keeping alive and getting out of this squalor, mud and shit huts, is to strike back! With a heavy sigh, Kaiji rose up from the little ones and turned to the young stallion to retort, I have told you that will only lead to more bloodshed, J'thaun. We keep the treaties strong, and the lions won't take more than is necessary, allowing or herd to continue on. After all, I will soon be offered up to them, I am old and weak. Only stories and lessons that could be spoken from anyone's lips to offer our people. I am beyond the years of worth and so, I proudly go to insure our continuance. Why should we sacrifice ourselves to fill their bellies? I am done being prey! shouts J'thaun, grabbing a rock from his side and slinging it against the side of a tree, shards of bark splintering off from the impact. Words wouldn't work here, the elder was set in his ways. I'm not going out like that, thought the young zebra before turning to storm off from the herd. J'thaun left the herd, he ventured out past the border of their current settlement, further still past the gaze of those who stood watch for approaching wanderers. Before long, he couldn't see any of those he knew and for a moment, he could take a breath and try to calm himself. Finger's still coiled in a tight grip, he lifted them before his long muzzle as if look at the clenched digits would magically will them to release the flexing muscles. How can they just live there, knowing that near the end, they will leave themselves to the murder and consumption of the lions? Our cousins to the North have made pacts with the wolves and bears, the great beasts of the frozen rain, no consumption of bipedal beasts. Yet, we sit here in a savage land, constantly fearful of a predator forgetting the treaty for even a moment and slaughtering us, whispered J'thaun, his voice filled to the brim with frustration. About that time, he noticed the large pond, the oasis amongst the nearly unending sands around them. They were far from the flat lands of tall grass and plains. Still, maybe all he needed was a drink. Though, it was dangerous nearing the waters edge. The crocodiles didn't take kindly to invaders and they were all but invisible beneath the waters. Approaching the waters edge, he slipped into some reeds in an attempt to make himself less visible until he heard something, not the sound of a growling, rumbling crocodile, but sweeter and feminine.