A sleek white form emerged slowly onto the grassland, lifting its crimson-crowned head up above the long grass around it. The moonlight glanced off a set of watchful orbs as the hunter scanned the area, ears rotating about and mouth parting to taste the African night wind. Though the landscape was ever-changing, the task at hand never did. Bai-Feng, as he was known formally as, or Xuco moved silently though the grass. The moonlight played oddly over the gold and crimson of the now worn coursing harness that laid forever strapped to his sleek form. The only physical reminder of his past life that remained with him.

Back then, he was no more successful than any other courser to the emperor however favored he was. His white pelt made him painfully obvious to the prey so he was often covered in fine dirt before the hunt. A habit that carried over to his older days as a free cheetah, though no longer by human hands. Back then his white coat and firey red mane had been a sign of good fortune in the eyes of the emperor. It was a royal sport, coursing. The rulers of the orient would often meet with their prized animals to compete against each other. Rulers from forgiven lands would travel to the east to compete and those from the east would travel to the exotic lands to hunt new and exotic game. India, China, Africa, and other great landscapes. Bai Feng had been the favorite of his young emperor and was hardly ever seen apart from the young man's side. Sitting at his feet by his throne as a status symbol, a token of good luck.

Coursing had been an art and a great honor among his kind. The cheetahs he had been born among were of a noble lineage, bred from champions from generations prior. The first, he'd heard, had been a gift to the emperor's late great-grandfather as an exotic species to add to his palace. Creatures strange to the area were seen as tokens of great wealth and often looked highly upon by the people and other rulers. Eventually word of using them as sport reached the emperor and soon it had been refined into a way of life. The cheetahs lived better than most of the common people, eating prepared meat and drinking clean water drawn from the palace's stream. They were groomed and set with harnesses that allowed their handler to restrain them on the field along with coursing helmets that were set on their heads, blinding the cheetah until removed for the hunt. Keeping them passive.

Bai Feng had been among the six that had been brought to Africa for a hunt arranged between a local sheik and the emperor. The night of the hunt had fallen on the night of a migration of some of the local beasts. Massive horned creatures Bai now knew to be wildebeest. Thousands, perhaps millions of the creatures had made their route across the hunting range and the hunters had been scattered. Bai Feng lost contact with the others in his team, finding himself soon in the company of one of the native female cheetahs. Wild and bold, she'd been nothing short of perfect to him.

Much as he'd loved her, Bai Feng couldn't find it within himself to abandon the life he knew and set off to search for his old master. After two seasons passed it became apparent that there was no trace of his old master or his team. When he returned to his mate's den he found only a corpse, already picked clean of her flesh and fur.

Heartbroken, he'd wondered away from the den, growing thin and rugged from his once sleek and proud form...

The spiders had found him. 'Ghosts of the Savanah'. The creatures of the underground had found his broken from, taken them into their shadows and restored him to health. They were the weavers of tales and the ears of the land. Their ways and stories intrigued him. The more he listened the more fascinated he became with the land. They'd earned his loyalty, Korvo had become his emperor....and now it was time for him to remove his blinders and track down game.

Bai dipped his head slowly, pawing at the ground with his worn-down claws. There were patches of thinned out grass where the dirt could be had. The land was dry enough to make it a bit of a task for him, but his white fur simply would not allow for sucess. Most especially at night.

Bai paused and slowly glanced back behind him. Another spotless form emerged slowly from the grass followed by his ever-present 'bodyguard'.

"Young emperor." Bai dipped his head slightly. "A suprise to have you out at this hour."

"I'm not a cub anymore." Taban said simply as he approached the older cheetah. His body language suggested that he was a bit uncomfortable with the area. "Are you going on a hunt?"

"Yes. As soon as I can dust myself."

Taban nodded, not unfamilar with that aspect of the white cheetah's routene. It made sense. Anansi would often change form to blend into his surroundings. Either for hunting or trickery. He himself had become something else, more manner-wise than anything else, to learn of the location of Nyk and his 'secret' pride.

"I... was told I should learn to hunt from you."

"Were you now?" Bai raised a brow, "Have the methods of your father failed you."

"More than I care to admit." Taban smiled a bit sheepishly.

"So you've come to terms with it then."

Taban frowned a bit, his ears rolling back. For much of his youth the cub had believed himself to be a lion though it wasn't without reason. The mother had been blind and picked up a cub- not her cub- but a cub she believed to be hers. At the time the father was gone and the cub was..well a cub. Led to believe that his mother was his true mother. He knew no other truth. Around the time that a lion would have rightfully grown his mane he'd grown more defensive, more bitter- and dare he think it- more arrogant as a false mask to hide the disappointment in the truth's revelation within himself.

Now mature and wiser, he was learning to live with the fact that he was indeed a creature the natives referred to as a 'windchaiser'. A cheetah.