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 Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:10 pm
"It's morning..."
The young female squinted her eyes - slithers of intense sunlight seemed to pass through the walls of the cave. It was rather curious. Where was she, anyway?
"Ah... ah!"
Tsuki jumped onto her four paws and reeled backwards - the shock of seeing a stranger's body so close of hers made her heart beat with panic. It took her a moment to realise that this body was simply Kiume. She calmed at once, sighing and grinning to herself. No need to freak out.
"Gawd, I nearly had a heart attack..." she chuckled, hoping that her scuffling hadn't awoken him, "I get it now... I remember... there was the whole storm thing, and then..."
And then they'd slept. It was that simple, really. Hrm, it had seemed more of a disaster, more of a huge adventure last night. But now that Tsuki thought about it, it was only a small event. Nobody had gotten hurt. Even the weather had gotten over it.
She tip-toed towards the cave's mouth and took a look outside - hah, sunny, just with a few puddles scattered about. It was strange how fast the weather could change face... just went to show how powerful the sky, and nature, could be. It only increased the youngster's respect for it, and fed her curiousity.
Well, at least it was safe to move again.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:54 pm
"...the whole storm thing..."
Kiume's eyes immediately widened at those words, and he jumped up. "Oh yeah! The sto-" He cut himself off with a loud howl of pain, and he crumpled back down to the ground. He whimpered a bit, now unable to move his body. A large bruise had begun to form at the side of his belly, nearby his ribcage, and after several moments of struggle he managed to cough out a small bit of blood. With a groan, he smacked the side of his head against the ground. Naturally, this didn't do anything to help him at the moment.
"How in the hell did I get hurt?" he grumbled angrily.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:26 pm
Tsuki, too, was startled for a moment - Kiume's voice had rung out so suddenly, and then, in its place, had come a cry of sheer pain. Alarmed, the wolf darted back through the cave's mouth, adrenalin pulsing through her veins, only to find a writhing Kiume groaning on the floor.
"Geez," she sighed, shaking her head, "I thought maybe a snake had bitten you or something, Kiume. Don't scare me like tha'..."
Wait. Was that... was that blood? Kiume's blood?
The female swore under her breath, and padded to Kiume's side, clearly concerned.
"Are... are you alright?"
Tsuki immediately wanted to kick herself - of course he wasn't 'alright'. He was here, lying on the floor, coughing and hacking up blood, for goodness sakes!
She tensed, panic flooding through her for a moment - but then, for the sake of keeping order, relaxed. She had shown a lioness how to hunt many moons ago, and that lioness had grown to become quite adept at nursing the ill. Tsuki always remembered her as being a calm soul, one that kept her cool in any situation. It wouldn't help to stress.
Well, not to stress too much. Worrying about her injured friend was something Tsuki couldn't exactly push to the back of her mind.
"Can you stand? Does it hurt?" she asked gently, padding to Kiume's side, "I can go and get help, if you'd like. "
But that could take days.
"... I'm not sure what happened, Kiume. Maybe, during the storm... ah, what can I... what can I do?"
She kept her voice steady, to disguise her uneasiness, yet she honestly didn't want to think about it. She could not simply walk away from a situation like this.
Their 'adventure' had not ended with last night's storm.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:19 pm
As Kiume lay there, only every other word she was saying registering in his mind, he suddenly remembered something that happened during the storm. A small log, or maybe a large stick...he couldn't recall clearly enough to be sure, had been hurled at him at lightning speed. What with the rain and wind and whatnot taking up all his attention, the pain brought on by the impact hadn't affected him until......he collapsed in the small cave.
Of course! he thought. That's why I was so exhausted...I was already injured! He winced in a bit of anger and dismay, then sighed and tried to calm his body. It wouldn't do his injury any good if he exhausted it on something as stupid as being angry with himself. He had plenty of other chances to do that, after all. "Can't..believe I didn't notice it....sooner.." he mumbled quietly.
"Can you stand?"
The male glanced up at her, then ground his teeth and forced himself up to his feet. Almost immediately he stumbled and ended up leaning a lot of his weight against her, and he frowned, mumbling a quick apology before gritting his teeth to keep himself from howling in pain yet again. "Look..." he said, his breathing becoming a bit heavy and uneven. "We should head to s..somewhere that has a doc..tor. How far is your home..?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 12:36 am
"Not far," Tsuki wobbled a little as Kiume brushed against her, but determination made her stand strong. The Pridelands, her home, were not too far away from here. She could support both herself and Kiume's weight until then, she was sure of it!
After all, she was a Pridelander.
She forced the strength to come, forced it to surge through her, and with it came confidence. It wasn't that far to the Border, surely, and there she could seek medical help or call her family for assistance. Umilele, her mother, would be pleased to see her return home anyway... bringing a sick male, however, could soon turn the happy atmosphere to tension.
But that didn't matter. What did matter was that Kiume could walk a little, at least leaning against her. They could make this.
"It's not that far, trust me," she started, giving him an encouraging lick on the ear, "Seriously, when you get there, you'll see... it's absolutely amazing, the Pridelands, absolutely amazing. Loads of gazelle, hares to catch, grass to hide in... and there's a huge lion pride. Do you like lions, Kiume?"
She brought the subject up to take their minds away from the doom and gloom of Kiume's injuries. Perhaps thinking about things would distract the male from the pain. At least, the thought of seeing the Pridelands once again comforted Tsuki.
"It's a special place, but it's also a really famous place. It's my home. Do you mind if I take you there? Once we get you fixed up, I'd love to show you around! And gosh, the sky at night..." she drew in a breath, "It's just pure magic. Oh, careful of that stick jutting out on the floor over there, by the way. Shall we start moving?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 12:51 am
The male nodded, his breathing becoming more and more of a burden. The injury had been a cracked rib; nothing too severe, but it was enough to give him trouble breathing as a sliver of his bone had managed to make a small cut on his lung. Again, nothing too bad, but it definitely didn't make things any easier for him. The lick on his ear brought him back from his own little, not-so-happy place -- which was nothing more than a bit of nausea and dizziness, mixed with a slowly spinning room. "Y..yeah, let's go..." he said wearily, taking it small step by small step.
They were soon at the mouth of the cave, and it had already felt like eternity to him. He breathed deeply, causing him to cough a bit more blood onto the ground in front of him. He cursed inwardly and pushed his body, which was slowly but surely beginning to drag beside Tsuki, upright, causing him a bit more pain. But, like the type that he was, Kiume gritted his teeth and kept quiet. Even though he'd suffered the injury, he couldn't imagine how Tsuki would feel if he howled and howled with pain every second of their journey. Shutting his eyes fairly tight, he followed beside her, thankful that their pace was slow and steady.
They were significantly closer after about a fifteen-minutes trek. Pride Rock was now in their line of vision, and somehow the large icon comforted Kiume, a foreigner to the lands. With renewed strength he pressed forward, though every now and then still coughing up small traces of blood. By now he'd left a small trail of blood for anyone to follow, but he quickly purged that thought from his mind. Right now, he needed to concentrate on not being a burden. On...surviving, something he'd done all by himself until this very day.
And he paused a moment, a small hint of realization coming to him, before continuing with their walk. It was a strange thought....knowing that he could rely on someone other than himself for support. Without her he probably would've been left at that cave to painfully bleed to death, that is unless he didn't starve to death first.
Oddly...comforting....
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:09 am
Tsuki had never really thought hard about life. Pressing onwards to the Pridelands was hard work, demanding work, yet it gave her time in between the general chatter to think. She thought her family - her mother and brother - and wondered briefly why she had been lucky enough to be born into such a loving, fortunate family life. Sure, they'd all lived without a Dad, but that had hardly made an impact on anything.
Kiume here had lived without an entire family.
She felt a rush of empathy hit hard, and she pushed herself to walk further with Kiume at her side. This new friend had gone through a lot - and although the injury wasn't life threatening, it was serious enough to produce fresh blood from Kiume's mouth, and for Tsuki, that was scary.
Tsuki was lucky. Kiume was a survivor.
And this was only part of the challenge.
After minutes had passed, Tsuki, too, found herself looking at the approaching shape of Pride Rock. She wagged her tail in dog-like relief, and gave Kiume a gentle, but happy nudge.
"We're passing the borders, Kiume," she grinned, "Not long to go, now."
They were almost there. Almost.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:35 am
Kiume welcomed the contact with a smile and a small nod, trying his hardest not to make it any more difficult to breath, walk, or keep himself in a standing position. Each step drained what little energy he had left, and by the time they reached the watering hole -- which luckily they were going to pass through -- he collapsed in a small heap to the ground.
Though he wanted to find a healer, or doctor or something of the sort, he desperately had to rest as well. He slowly and painfully dragged himself to the edge of the water, then began taking huge gulps from it. It was a very new sensation for him, as the liquid was both painful and refreshing at the same time.
He knew the break would have to be brief, however, and after the both of them had regained at least a bit of their energy back they started off again. Kiume leaned against her for support, and he took his small steps to conserve his energy. If anything, he'd need it just to stay awake the rest of the way. Thankfully, with the rest came renewed vigor from the both of them, and by noon they were almost halfway through the pridelands.
Kiume, despite all thoughts being focused on the fact that her den was most likely much farther than where they currently were, tried to stay positive. At least he was alive, he'd met a great girl who was helping to keep him from dying or otherwise being in a world of immense, extremely unbearable pain.
"H...how much farther Tsu..ki?" he rasped, the first words he'd spoken since they left their little shelter from the storm.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:54 am
Tsuki opened her mouth to give Kiume an answer, but stopped herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a dark sillohuette approaching, weaving through the long grass. She saw something wet gleam, an eye perhaps. Cautious, the maned wolf tensed, her paw-pads sweating. Something was stalking them...
It happened in a fleeting instant - a silver lion sailed from the grass, powerful muscles flexing, claws outstretched and fangs bared, throwing itself at Tsuki and Kiume with a chilling yowl.
Tsuki yelped in alarm.
"Kiume, move right!"
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:08 am
Kiume, being the state that he was, didn't question her. The sound in her voice was believable enough, and Kiume practically flung himself to the right, landing luckily on his uninjured side. Though he was that lucky, it didn't keep him from feeling the intense surge of pain that now ran through the entirety of his body, and he couldn't keep himself from groaning aloud.
"What...was that?" he asked, voice still raspy. The question was followed by a long train of coughs which ended in a larger-than-usual pool of blood beside his mouth.
His life was now, to put it very very simply, in danger.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:42 am
"Kiume!" Tsuki scrambled up from the dust, her heart beating fast. Oh, no. No, no, no. More blood. This wasn't good, not good at all.
Anger soon replaced the worry and frustration, and it built up inside Tsuki until she could no longer contain in. She darted left, away from Kiume, and faced the lioness with fierce eyes, growling and bristling. It took a moment for the female to realise just who she was standing off against.
"H...Hantu?"
"Tsuki?" the silver lion stepped backwards, her eyes wide, "I thought it was you... but I could smell blood. I thought..."
She laid her eyes on Kiume, and her mouth dropped.
"What... happened?"
"Long story," Tsuki growled, unimpressed and eyes clouded with worry, "But you just made it worse. I need to get Kiume seen to. Can you help me carry him, Hantu?"
She stared at the lioness with pleading eyes, and Hantu nodded, seemingly worried.
"Press against me, then," she huffed, nudging Kiume with her nose, "I'm... dreadfully sorry. Truly, I am. I thought that perhaps you were a threat... I'll... I'll help you..."
"Don't speak, Hantu," Tsuki snapped, returning to Kiume's other side, "Just keep walking."
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:56 am
The male said nothing, only accepting help with endless gratitude. The lioness had meant well for the pride, and he'd have to talk to Tsuki about that later on. Right now, he kept his mind focused on just one thing -- staying alive. If that meant keeping quiet and taking slow, deep breaths then that's what he was going to do. His eyes were half closed, his steps small, slow, and very awkward and wobbly. Nevertheless, he managed somehow, coughing up a bit more blood the longer they walked.
The minutes pressed on, and Kiume's usually deep blue eyes started dilating, his vision blurring a bit more than they already were. His breathing was steadily getting uneven, and the coughing slowly getting worse with each bout. He'd already lost so much blood, yet he continued to cough up more each time. He was on the verge of passing out now, surprised that he even made it this far without hacking out a lung. Luckily for him, the den was drawing closer and closer with each passing, very painful, minute. That was the only thing that really kept him from giving up just yet.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:10 am
Tsuki and Hantu both did their fair share of work. Hantu, because she was simply very sorry, and Tsuki, because she did not want Kiume to suffer anymore. From what he'd told her, he'd already hurt enough - and, although this event was only a small stone on the path of life, it was still painful for, it seemed, Kiume... and for Tsuki to watch.
After all, he had saved her from the storm, and lead her into that cave.
"Hantu, you know where Mother is... fetch her, won't you?" Tsuki's voice shook a little, but she managed to get it stable as she went on, "Don't make her panic, okay? You know what to do."
"Ah... yes, of course. I'll only be a moment, then," Hantu said quickly, shot Kiume an apologetic glance, and shot off to look for an older maned wolf.
"Sit down here."
Tsuki's eyes softened, and she pointed a forepaw at a comfortable space on the floor of the den.
"Just close your eyes and rest. Mum's coming, and she'll help out. Everything's fine," she paused, and then drew a great sigh, "The sun is bright today. Maybe, if we're lucky, I could give you a tour soon. Show you the stars. That's what I'll do, as a 'Thankyou' present. How's that?"
And she forced a grin.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:16 am
He followed absentmindedly, his mind now dipping into unconsciousness. It was the last thing he heard for a long while, though. A soft, comforting voice that somehow managed to help him drift into what would be considered the most peaceful sleep he'd had in ages.
And then, all at once, everything was submerged in darkness.
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