Liang growled again, struggling furiously as she desperately tried to wrench herself free. Who knew there were sink holes in the damned desert?! And how had she managed to find one? Fury at her own lack of attention mingled with fear at the thought that she might be stuck there completely, and would die out in the baking heat long before anyone found her. Not that she really thought anyone would notice she was gone… it wasn’t like she had made that many friends in the pride. Of course she knew it was down to her rather stand-offish personality, but after being so horribly betrayed by the pride that had birthed her, she found it hard to trust anyone else, even a little bit.
The hours passed and still she struggled, the heat making her body sweat. Sand got into her fur and made her itch in places she had never itched before. A sharp pain in her front leg indicated that she had probably wrenched it in her fight for freedom. But despite inflicting self-injury, she was still stuck fast, sunk up to her shoulders in sand. The worst of it was, her paws felt damp. It could just be the cooler sand so deep down, or it would be that she was loosing circulation to her legs. But her fear was that it was a small spring, one that didn’t make it all the way to the surface but instead stayed just damp enough to cause this small quick-sand like spot. If that was the case, she knew she would have no hope of dragging herself free of the suction such conditions created.
Tossing her head she threw herself into a panic-filled attempt to get free, head and neck thrashing madly as she fought with all her strength against the trap. But when she eventually stopped, she realised that instead of escaping the sand, she had sunk a little further, the sand tickling along her neck, almost high enough that she didn’t need to lower her muzzle to rest it on the surface. Panting hard she let her head drop down, eyes closing. Apparently this was her end.. undignified, and unavenged.
Suddenly a deep, husky, growly voice pierced her semi-conscious state and she dragged her eyes open with great effort. At first she couldn’t see who was there, though the voice had been… familiar? Eventually, as her sight swam dizzyingly into focus, she found herself blinking weakly up at the huge black male called Ṭhaṇḍa'Lau.
“What are you doing?” His gruff tone demanded, as if she had chosen to get herself stuck in an inescapable sink hole. Growling weakly up at him she bared her teeth. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m having a nap.” His expression snapped her already on-edge temper and she gnashed her fangs at him in panicked frustration. “What do you think?! I’m stuck!”
“Why did you do that?” He asked, incredulously, before dropping his head and nosing at where the sand crept up over her shoulders.
“It wasn’t on purpose!” She hissed, wanting to scream at him, to call him every evil name under the sun, but he was her salvation and as dizzy as she was, she couldn’t risk him leaving. “I’m stuck. The sand is damp.” Panting hard, the sand gradually increasing the pressure against her flanks with every breath she gazed pleadingly up at him.
Having sniffed all around the part of her that was still yet to be swallowed by the sand trap, he huffed, stepping back as he looked at her position thoughtfully. “It’s going to hurt.” The only way to free her would be to wrench her out of the wet sand, but there was so much of her submerged already he only had a small bit of leverage.
“Keep still and don’t bite me.” She only had time to glance up at him in annoyed surprise at his weird request, after all, she had asked for his help so why would she attack him? When suddenly his giant shaggy head lunged at her, mouth agape. Closing her eyes she braced for pain, instantly feeling his fangs sink into the thick skin at the back of her neck. Gritting her teeth against the roar of pain that wanted to escape she poured the last of her strength into trying to pull her front legs free.
The giant male locked his jaws on the back of Liang’s neck, braced his powerful hind legs in the shifting sand and threw his weight backwards with a muffled roar of effort. Every muscle in his body bulged with the effort as he put everything he had into dragging the female from the deadly sand. At first she didn’t budge, the suction of the damp spring on her legs too great to over come, but as he kept on, his sheer strength and her weakened struggles finally started to have an effect. The seal of wet sand gave way with a sickening slurp and suddenly she slid forwards a short distant, making Thanda loose his balance. But he didn’t let her go in case she slipped right back. Quickly adjusting his paws he heaved again, toes spread as his legs flexed, fighting both the suction and the shifting sands. But gradually, slowly, more and more of the lioness became visible as he heaved her from the trap and out onto the desert surface.
At last, with both lions panting hard and Liang laying flat out on her side, gasping for breath and shaking with cold and exhaustion, she was free. Shaking himself tiredly, Thanda gazed down at the spent lioness. She was long past her endurance and was already half way asleep. Despite the heat she was shivering, her damp coat covered in glistening sand. Without a word the huge male lay down behind her, using his excessive body heat to warm her up again. She would need to drink and feed later, but for now she could sleep and he would watch over her. After a short time she passed out, so deep asleep nothing would have woken her. With a gruff sigh Thanda settled his chin on his paws and closed his eyes.
He would give her a couple of hours, then they would need to hunt.
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