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Pain. Thirst. It was all that Chapua's mind could concentrate on. What had happened? Her memory was foggy, but all she knew now was that she could barely walk. Would she every run again, as was her namesake?

She laid in a small ditch, just barely hiding her form off of the normal flat lands of the savannah. It was the best she could do to hide herself from continuing danger, but it also brought the risk of dying in the ditch as well. She couldn't walk, therefore she couldn't eat. She might be able to drag herself to water, but that would take energy she didn't have. Not to mention the risk of danger again.

Fear swirled around in her mind as she fought it off. She had to calm herself down, or she would lie here in a panic until the vultures came. And like hell she was going to let herself die here in an unknown land. She didn't come out here to start over her life just to loose it! She whimpered as loudly as she could (which was still just a soft sound), hoping that maybe someone would find her, and not finish her off.

His feet fell slowly upon the savannah, his thin frame slinking through the dry golden grasses that matched it to near perfection. The paler bob of hair atop his head swayed as he drooped it, eyes concentrated upon his path with little thought to where he was even heading. As always, he was thinking simply over his own misery, his own mistakes, the problems he had caused and would probably continue to cause without fail. He wondered, day in and day out how many cubs he had, how they faired with the no doubt craziness of their mothers, and if he would ever come across any of them, or he them.

It was then that he heard that whine, and his ears perked immediately. Could it be? For a moment, he dared to hope that perhaps he had found a cub, his cub? After all, he had only ever heard a cub whine. Perhaps luck had decided to take mercy upon him in his fear and give him just one to save. Walking towards the direction he was sure he heard it from, eyes peeled for the site of any cub that resembled him, or any of his previous mates.

As he came upon the ditch, however, he realized that his assumptions couldn't have been any farther from the truth. There, hiding from what he could only assume to be predators, was a cheetah - injured from the looks of it. It was too late to turn around now, and if she were indeed harmed as badly as it seemed, leaving her here could mean her death. "Are.. you alright?" he asked hesitantly, poised above her, though out of the reach should she grow violent and strike with claws. He was smart enough to know injured animals could grow desperate.

It seemed like time passed so slowly. Even worse so when Dharuba had left her. The fur around her eyes grew wet, but from tears of sadness or pain, Chapua could not say. She merely prayed to something, anything, that she wouldn't lie here and die.

Fighting off the darkness that crept ever so closely to her, it took a few extra moments to realize that there was a voice. Someone was here? The concept of someone finding her seemed strange, almost unwanted. She was to die here, wasn't she? She had almost come to terms with that, but another sharp jolt of pain had awoken her from the haze of death.

Her first instinct was to hiss at the creature, and she did. Or, she tried, but it came out weakly, and in a gurggle. Her red eyes narrowed as she looked up at the creature. Why did the sky seem so bright all of a sudden. "Do I....look...?" She stumbled with her speech, trying to get the words out, but it was difficult. What was he going to do to her?

No, she was certainly hurt, that much was obvious from the way she could barely talk, let alone her bare movements. With a sigh, he glanced in the direction he knew the nearest water hole to be. She needed to get there, drink, clean the wounds - he wasn't sure how weak she was though or if she was even able to stand up at all. In silence, he cursed his own guilt, his need to help others.

Moving closer, slowly, so that she would realize he was not a threat, he looked down at her and her wounds. "If I help you, do you think you can stand?" He would have to do as much as he could for her, that was simply it. There was no way he could leave her here to die, or for another predator to find, becaus ehe knew if he had found her then someone else could.

Chapua would admit to herself that she had her suspicions, but she would let herself eat them if only to survive one more day. If she didn't trust him right here and now, she would die. It was as simple as that.

With one small nod of her head, she acknowledged that she would accept his help. The only problem was standing. She might be able to stand, but she didn't think she would walk very well, if at all. Crawling would almost be her best bet, but the pain would destroy that option. She couldn't tell where the pain was coming from directly, as it felt like it was from everywhere, but knowing that a good rest and safe place to stay would let her mind relax enough to determine the source.

She struggled to get her forepaws out from under her, gingerly tapping them on the ground. Well enough, her ankles were okay. She leaned her body forwards and to the direction that the stranger was in, hoping that if she overcompensated she'd be able to at least lessen the blow by leaning on him. She didn't take into account that it was one of her forelegs that some of the pain came from, and she did just that. She fell forwards.

Understanding that he must have done more than he should have, judging by the fatigue in his voice, she knew that she needed to slide off of him as soon as possible. The thought of actually doing so, even with him so close to the ground, was completely unwanted in her mind. Fighting against every bit of sense that screamed at her from her pain, she grunted as she shifted her weight to the back end, sliding off with another loud grunt as she hit the ground.

Her red eyes noticed the water just before her. He had dropped her off just short of the edge of the water, and the sight of the water made her mouth seem to grow even dryer. She needed some water, needed to be able to thank him for what he did. Just this much would at least prolong her life if not save it.

She crawled just a tiny bit to dip her head towards the edge of the water. Since it was at the edge and at the height of the day, the water was not cool, but it felt like heaven when it had gone dwon her throat. Finally, a bit of relief from all the pain she was suffering though. She paused for a moment, judging her throat before she spoke. "T-thanks..." was all she could muster out at the moment.

He drew a deep breath to fill his strained lungs as he sat there, feeling immediately more comfortable as she slid off of him. He turned to watch her, his eyes following her as she crawled the rest of the way to the water and took a drink. His eyes fell upon her sides then, instead, and a slight frown spread across his maw. He saw the wounds that he had missed before, having been too concerned with how ragged and broken she looked in general. They look a day or more old, which meant they needed to be washed as soon as possible.

He didn't really have any skills with healing, never claimed to, but he had had to tend himself when he was younger. His mother, being the crazy female that she was, had often given him more injuries than he wanted. After he left, once he was old enough, he'd certainly had his fair share of run ins with rogues as well. He knew what to do to take care of himself, and that meant that in situations like this, he simply knew what to do to take care of someone else.

"Your wounds don't look too good," he said softly, his words still a little strained, but he forced himself back up onto his sore paws. He walked closer to her, leaning down slightly to examine her sides, before shifting and moving closer to the watering hole. "I'm going to have to wash those up a little," he said, glancing at her face, though it was clear by both words and expression what he meant - it would hurt. There was nothing to be done, but they needed to be washed, lest they get infected with dirt.

After taking quite a long drink, the cheetah raised her head up to listen to the golden male. She knew that he was a cheetah, that form completely impossible to mistake. It was only now, with a mildly clearer head that she was able to see more details. Details of his coat and body, but details of the strain that he had taken to carry her over here. It seemed odd, to help a stranger so openly, but Chapua knew that she would do the same if she had come across someone needing help.

She nodded her head, but a whimper escaped. She knew it was going to hurt, but she also didn't know how hard he would wash her wounds out. She had been injured before, but it was much easier to take care of yourself at your own pace than having to depend on someone else. She felt completely useless right now.

Preparing for the pain that she knew was to come, she pulled out her forelegs, letting the left one stay limp as she tightened up the right one. She would call the hell out of the earth if it would help distract her from the cleaning that had to be done. Chapua didn't even know the damage to her body, but the pain was a good enough way to judge just how injured she was.

"Go...c-clean....thank...ful," she said softly, keeping to simply words so she wouldn't waste energy on unnecessary things. When she was a bit more recovered, she would be able to say much more to him.

He didn't honestly know the exact reason he had decided to go through all this trouble of helping her. He supposed that he simply had a heart and couldn't find it in himself to just leave her thre, stranded. That, and with the guilt of leaving his own cubs heavy on his conscience, leaving another helpless soul would have likely torn him to pieces. No, he could help her, even when he couldn't help them. This was a good thing he was doing, not enough to make up for the things he had done, but.. it was the best he could do for now.

He nodded softly at her words, though he wondered idly to himself if it was all just fatigue. He hoped she hadn't hit her head, or had it hit for her. He figured it was just her being too tired, too weak, but he supposed he would find out sooner or later. He moved his paw into the water, making sure he wet them thoroughly, until they were dripping with the murky liquid. Then, with a stern look on his face, he drew them up and quickly towards her side (so that as little water as possible would drip away) and promptly began to rub away the dirt and dried blood caked on her wound. He was as careful as he could be, but he couldn't judge her pain.

She was trying to let herself expect the pain, but when it came it still caught her off guard. Oooh, her ribs! That was exactly where most of the pain had come from. SHe let her right claws sink deep into the earth as she did her best to keep quiet. Her body tensed, but she stayed as still as she could otherwise. The more obediant she was, the sooner it would be over, and she would only have to deal with the vertigo that came with pain. It would all be over soon, but she would be alive, not dead.

Another small whimper escaped as she buried her head between her limbs, her nose rubbing against the dirt. She tried to focus on just what happened, but it wasn't completely coming to her. She had simply been traveling, and the next thing she knew she was fighting for her life. Then vultures...oooh vultures. The blasted things tried to peck at her, but she had been able to chase them off. For some reason they left, and being completely alone for a full day after that had made her give up hope.

Now, she had a chance...if only she could deal with the pain! She resisted the urge to swivel around and snap at him as her instincts screamed at her to make the pain stop. It would, if only she could hold out through this part. The whimpering that escaped her throat was embarassing, but it almost helped her cope with the pain. Quick quick quick! she thought, I can't do this much longer....

Chapua was pleased. She knew his name, knew that he wouldn't leave her. And maybe he'd get her a little something once she wake up from a nap. The idea of sleep seemed welcoming. Darkness, but not the kind that she almost fell into. The comforting one that worked it's magic, always making everything better.

"That sounds good," she said softly, letting her head rest on her forelimbs. They made the perfect place to put her head, letting her fatigue pull at her eyelids. "Something soft..." Not that she knew what would be soft around here, but he might know. Hopefully she'd be able to eat whatever it was he brought. She would certainly try her best, and appreciate everything that he did. She'd have to do something to repay the favour, and hopefully he'd accept it.

For now, though, she knew that she needed to sleep. Every other worry would be there once she woke up, and she could deal with them then. She let her eyes finally close, knowing that sleep would drag her down into the world of dreams soon after that. He'd be here when she woke up, she knew it.