[PRP] You - !! (Elea and Mapatano)

[Krysin]

It had been a disaster, and Elea had to watch as Nadra swooped down at the wildebeest, only to have her wing pierced by one of the creature's horns. It had been unexpected, and it petrified Elea to the core of her being, so that she had charged through the grass at the wildebeest to chase it away before it could trample on the fallen Nadra. Her leg had ached from the overuse, but it could not compare to the pain in her heart to see Nadra on the ground when the bird deserved to be in the sky. The injury wasn't life threatening, not by far, and Elea was positive that Nadra would fly again in time. But it still was an injury that shouldn't have happened, and in the midst of putting the blame on herself, her mind realized that she couldn't cope with taking the full burden. Unconsciously her mind decided that others deserved the blame as well.

And so unrightfully her anger turned towards someone other than herself, the very lion that had showed her how to hunt with her crippled leg. If he had not shown her that way to hunt, Nadra would never have been injured to begin with. Sure, the error was on her part and Nadra's part as well, but she could never direct her anger to her injured bird, and she could not direct all of it in towards herself. She needed to blame someone else, she needed someone to hate in this incident. She didn't care if it was wrong.

Mapatano had gotten Nadra hurt.

After Elea had made sure Nadra was nice and comfortable (and fast asleep), she set out away from her bonded. Her mind was focused on one target, an older, black, and vaguely uncommonly fluffy lion. It was mid-afternoon (she had hunted early in the morning), and her heart still ached. There was pain and sadness, which was why anger was brought in to counteract them. There was only so much the youthful lioness could handle.  

[wooga Paes]

He was lounging, on that fateful day. Just resting after a successful hunt, unlike what Elea's had been, and now he was resting on a rock. It was a rock he rather liked, flat on top, though it required a small jump. It was also on top of a hill, merely adding to his advantaged vision, not to mention position. attacking something on higher ground was harder; which was perhaps suiting for the situation.

The rock itself wasn't enormous, however, and was unlikely to fit two lions(well, maybe if they squeezed together, or sat down, but he was lying on it). His bonded, a red kite, was perched contently at his side, looking at the lands ahead. She'd been about to take off to stretch her wings when she saw Elea approach, and with her keen eyes, had also been quick to catch on to the lioness' aggravation. "Head up, " Hisa said, and positioned herself on the front of the rock, in the direction Elea was coming from.

She was a smart bird, and was quick to assume that Elea was probably angry at her bonded, it also worried her that Nadra wasn't around. Which made Hisa fluff up slightly; perhaps it had something to do with the hunting strategy they'd shown her. She was usually quick to bother Mapatano, however, he was her bonded, her lion, and she wouldn't have Elea coming here and stressing him out when he was finally resting. If Elea threatened to climb up to him, the red kite would stretch out her wings, making it impossible for the lioness to jump up. Mapatano could jump down, from his position, but she doubted he would. She was a kite, and although not the strongest of birds, a bird her size did have very strong wings, and getting clipped by them would hurt, a lot.

Mapatano had seen Elea soon enough too, and watched as Hisa positioed herself in front of him. Funny, he was being defended by his kite... then again, it wouldn't be the first time, and Mapatano felt a rush of affection towards Hisa. His eyes weren't as good as hers, so he could only assume Elea's mood by Hisa's reaction to her, and flicked his tail irritably, like one expecting a storm once they saw cloudy skies.

He wouldn't speak... not yet,anyway. Instead, the black lion merely shifted from his side to his belly, head raised to watch Elea approach.  

[Krysin]

She saw him, and it almost appeared as if he was sunning himself, as if he was truly enjoying this fine day that had brought her bonded bird harm. It made her stomach coil with anger, and so she quickened her pace. She needed to vent, she needed to scream and yell because it wasn't fair. Elea who tried so hard to be the best could no longer be the best because of her leg, and Nadra who was always loyal and did anything Elea truly desired of her was hurt now because of it. It made her briefly wonder why these things didn't happen to anybody else. Sure, Mapatano had his fair share of hurt, but most of the general population didn't go through what Elea was going through.

She stalked up the hill, her lilac colored eyes bright and glossy with her pain. They were the only parts of her body that reflected her grief, because her mouth was drawn into a hard line, her brows drawn down together in a critical, hateful look. It was clear that she was rearing and ready to vent, ready to throw all the blame on Mapatano for showing her this new hunting style, though in all perspectives he was just trying to aid the younger lioness. She couldn't see it in that light any longer, not after Nadra had nearly been trampled by a startled wildebeest.

The scene flashed before her eyes, and it took all of her effort to put it away and store it for another time.

Her mouth parted, the words piling up in her throat, but the sight of Hisa almost protecting Mapatano startled her. Her eyes widen, and she stared at the red kite in brief wonderment. Her anger was shocked right out of her, and there was that overwhelming grief again. She glanced from the bird to the black lion, and with her original purpose thrown off track, she was grappling over what to do.

"Nadra's been hurt," her tone was only slightly accusing, but more defeated than anything else. She hadn't intended for it to sound that way, but she couldn't rouse her anger when she saw Hisa's little effort to keep Mapatano undisturbed. "Hunting, trying out your theory. The wildebeest bucked - his horn pierced her wing, and she nearly got trampled." Her lip trembled in that mixture of great grief and small anger. But she wouldn't allow herself to break apart in front of Mapatano. She was here to accuse him, was she not? So she better get on with it!  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano tilted his head, for a moment actually feeling sorry for Elea, but the tone of accusation did spark irritation in him. Hisa showed some concern at the news of Nadra's injury, but she still didn't step aside from her position. her self-proclaimed job right now was to keep Elea off the rock, consequently, Mapatano out of a pissy-lioness' range. She didn't mind Elea half as much as her bonded did, but she really just needed to know about how Mapatano and Elea reacted to each other, and, in a quite biased manner, she was quicker to defend her bonded.

"Its not a theory, " Mapatano said, his tail flopping over one of his paws. "Its a strategy. " The lion corrected, as if perhaps offended that Elea would call it a theory. It existed, and it worked, it'd been shown to her. It was no longer a theory after that point. "As for the pierce, how bad is it? " First he'd see just how hurt Nadra was, before proceeding. "Did you fetch Ashiki, yet? She's back. " Ashiki was, of course, a healer, and right now, the only one they had, as far as he knew.  

[Krysin]

She grimaced at the correction, and it was enough to spark a little bit of her anger in her. Really, her emotions could be considered a rollercoaster ride when she was upset. They changed constantly at the smallest trigger. "A faulty strategy," she growled softly, her vision blurry with tears that wanted to spill. But, Elea refused to give in to the temptation. She would not cry now, not in front of Mapatano. The embarrassment of her weakness would be too much for her. So she stood strong, shoulders square, tail flickering behind her. Yet there was something still in the expression of her face, the lower tilt of her ears that suggested that her anger was more show, and that it was quickly crumbling away.

"Her wing's pierced, it's bleeding a little, but there's not much there in the wing to begin with... I can see the hole if she holds up her wing." She shuddered involuntarily, the image burned uncomfortably into her mind. "I know she'll be able to fly again, it's nothing compared to my leg." The word hung unspoken in the air, the 'but' that was waiting to be voiced. The injury wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still an injury, and Elea cared enough for Nadra to freak out at the smallest of hurts.  

[wooga Paes]

The mental image of a vulture with a hole in its wing made Hisa wince, though Mapatano didn't seem too impressed. "All strategies are faulty. " Hee sneered, there was never a sure thing, never a guarantee. "But I did tell you you'd have to adapt it. " He shrugged. "And Elea, how many times did you have to try before you caught your first prey? And how many bruises did you wind up with in the process? " or horn-stabs. They were a little common, really, and it was perhaps good that most prey horns weren't really sharp, they were just sharp enough. Though Elea was a great huntress, even the best hunters failed more often than they succeeded, and a beginner even less... even Elea.

"Nadra was learning to hunt. Its hard to succeed on the first try. " He frowned, and was quietly surprised at himself. Perhaps it was Hisa's fault, standing there like a shield, it made him feel comfortable enough not to snap out at Elea. It may also be her body; he could tell she was fighting breaking out. She was doing a good job, but having done the same thing himself a few times, particularly when his father was around, and right after, he'd caught it. It did make him take pity on her, though the minute Elea got snappier, Mapatano was bound to get twice as much.

"I take it you still think its my fault, though. " He tipped his ears towards her, brows furrowing slightly. Hisa was quietly thinking 'quit while you're ahead, Mapa', but didn't object to any of his point. Her bonded was a smart lion, and she rarely doubted his reasoning.  

[Krysin]

"It was adapted... we figured that anything as large as Nadra would spook any animal, even if she did not dive as Hisa dived. She swooped, but the damnable creature bucked up, and Nadra's so big that she can't fly out of the way quick enough..." The pair of them had bundled the hunt, but Elea took it particularly hard. She was finding it exceedingly difficult to get back on her feet and make more consistent kills. Oh, she knew that not every hunt would succeed, and that most would fail, but she had a better record. She could kill more often in the past then she did now. Elea wanted to get back to that point she had been before, she strove every day for it. But, she could only take so much failure before the stress began to pile on her shoulders, and Nadra's injury did not help it.

Slowly she forced herself to sit down, to help release some of the tension in her shoulders and back. Her tail curled up against her side, the white ends sweeping against the grass and dirt. Her eyes, easily the same color as the purple of her pelt, glanced to the side, as if looking directly upon Mapatano would rise her unwarranted anger once again. "I didn't think she'd get hurt, we had talked it out carefully... I didn't expect the prey to react in such a way, and Nadra nearly got trampled because of it." She shuddered, unable to truly dispell such thoughts from the forefront of her mind.

She glanced back up to Mapatano, and she seemed to be considering, her ears slowly lowering to press flat against the back of her skull. "It's... not your fault, not more than it is my own." She nearly grimaced with the realization that she had said this, but she just couldn't rouse her anger against him anymore. He hadn't truly deserved it in the first place, and out of respect for Hisa's actions, she was going to try her best to behave. That meant not putting the blame wrongly upon the black lion.  

[wooga Paes]

"It probably saw her coming. " The dive was more-so for the element of surprise, a swoop left more area for the wildebeest to catch the vulture, which, once identified as a vulture, perhaps wasn't as scary as she should be. "Plans always have room to fail. " Now that he thought of it, perhaps Msiba had a plan, once upon a time. A plan that had failed, miserably. Though it had left its mark on the pride; Ukweli. Kuruka, too. Though, as much as it would feel easy to blame Nyonda's death on him as well, he couldn't, really. Nyoda had been the earthquake, no plot.

He watched Elea's actions for a moment, and though his empathy was fading by the second, he was a little surprised when she didn't dump blame on him, and had to press back the urge to put on a smug face. He didn't want trouble today, nope. Though... "you didn't expect this meeting to go this way, did you? "

 

[Krysin]

"I suppose that means we'll have to have Nadra swoop from behind, once she can get into the air once again. I don't want her to be at such risk again by going for a wildebeest's face." If Nadra was unable to be seen, any attack from any angle would enough to spook a wildebeest, and it might be easier to even herd the creature if Nadra started off by pecking at its rump. It would be far from graceful, because Nadra was a big bird, and she would have to be able to stay behind the wildebeest to herd it. But... it would be effective, and if it kept Nadra out of the way of horns, Elea would be glad for it. It tore at her too much to witness her bonded getting hurt, and she was certain that she did not want to go through it again, no matter the circumstances. She also reflected upon the fact that that what she felt might be to some small degree what Nadra felt when Elea's leg had become crippled.

Her eyes fixed upon him in a momentary, warning glare, but the look died away as she sighed softly to herself. If she had bangs, she might have attempted to push them away from her eyes as a much needed distraction. But, she was bald and beautiful, with no bangs to hide the purple markings on top of her head from view. "...No, I wasn't quite expecting it to go this way," but she knew that Mapatano knew that. She didn't know why he asked for her confirmation, but right now she just couldn't find the energy to be angry. She was too sick with worry over her bird. "No, I really didn't. I quite expected to waltz up this hill and thoroughly chew you out...

"Heh, so much for that." She shook her head with a little rueful laugh.  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano nodded slightly. He wasn't so sure about her strategy, controlling a wildebeest from its behind had been tougher than straight to the face, seeing as it'd been harder for Hisa to make it turn the right way, but perhaps a bird like Nadra had no other choice.

"Huh. " He huffed slightly as Elea said what she'd expected. She'd expected to chew him up... Like she'd succeed at that. He smirked slightly, but then flopped on his side once again.

"Bye, now. " Not that he was going anywhere. It was more-so a "suggestion" for Elea to go do something more productive than sit around and bother him.  

[Krysin]

Her gaze was drawn to the smirk, and subtly the corner of her lip twitched in annoyance. Here she was trying to be nice, and he was silently gloating in all of it! Her anger was finally being roused, though a little belatedly. She wasn't even sure she was going to act upon it fully now. No, the time to chew him out and berate him and verbally assault him was passed. The opportunity had come and gone, and she had no will to pursue after it now. But now she felt slightly spiteful, though it did not override the pain she was currently experiencing. If it was enough to override her pain, Mapatano would be able to see it. As it was, her expression was almost passive, a clever guise for the pain.

"My leg hurts, I had to rush at the wildebeest to keep it from trampling Nadra."

What did that translate to?

Oh.

She wasn't leaving.

Just to spite him.

The lioness idly observed the rock, and deciding that it had no purpose to her, she laid down next to her, her gaze casually observing the larger, darker lion. "How are your own injuries healing up?" There, she was being nice, despite ignoring his hint for her to leave. Her voice was even softened slightly with some degree of concern, no matter how small it was. If he wanted to be out of her presence, he would get off his lazy fluffy butt and go leave himself.  

[wooga Paes]

His ear flicked at that, and he grumbled, contemplating raising his head to shoot her a glare, though Hisa seemed to have covered it, and not Mapatano was amused. Hisa was never one to glare at anyone like that, though, perhaps she was only doing it now because Elea was getting in the way of one thing Hisa really wanted; him to lay back and rest. And he was actually willing to do that, right now. Had he been on his feet and fired up, he doubted Hisa would object half as much. He wasn't so sure he liked it, after all, it was bossing him around as much as it would be bossing Elea.... but at this moment, for this thing, he didn't mind being bossed around.

The red kite got over it, though, and instead focused on his tail, watching it for a bit, though occasionally she flashed her attention back to Elea. "Fine. "  

[Krysin]

She blinked at the glare Hisa shot at her, and on account of Hisa's small side, Elea couldn't quite take her as seriously as she should. Her ears perked up, and almost curiously she tilted her head to the side. Honestly, she had no idea why Hisa was glaring at her like that. Elea wasn't harming anyone, least of all Mapatano. She was just keeping him company, sort of. Okay, so she was pestering him with her presence, but she wasn't antagonizing him in any other way. In fact, she was showing the little bit of concern that she had for him to him. He had killed Machafuko, and that did put him a step higher above most lions in her mind. She had hated Machafuko. He had grated on her nerves because he represented everything that she did not want to be. She didn't want to be lazy, unmotivated, and unwilling to work with her pride. Elea was a team player, when the game got serious.

"Have you seen this Ashiki, for your injuries? They still look a little bad. 'Fine' is hardly the right description." She did not intend to see Ashiki for her leg, because deep down she knew that there was nothing that could be done for it. Her leg was too far damaged for repair. She still had feeling in it, which she heard was a good thing, but it was of no use to her. It would almost be better if she did not have the leg at all, but she couldn't picture herself without it. She was thoroughly attached to her limb.  

[wooga Paes]

"'this Ashiki'? Gee, you're sure good with your pridemembers. " He grumbled, though, he supposed not everyone could have his "gift" of recalling everyone's names, and attaching them to their faces. As for the Ashiki seeing the wounds, he'd been the one to find her, so she had already seen them. and he'd ignored any advice, woop-dee-doo. He didn't answer her question verbally, though.

Hisa sighed to herself, contemplating walking to the edge of the rock and pecking Elea's head. If the adolescent shut up it wouldn't be as bad, but if she kept talking, Mapatano was bound t leave soon, and when he got up, she doubted she'd get him down again! Okay, lets wait a biit longer, Hisa wasn't too keen on pecking Elea.  

[Krysin]

She bristled at his comment, casting a nasty glare in his direction as if that would relieve her anger. Really, she was trying her best to be civil, but Mapatano was fighting her on every comment she made. Man, and she was just trying to be nice her, trying to get on better terms with Mapatano. They had a few poor starts, but she didn't want to grump and growl at him every time she happened to cross his path. That would be far too much effort on her part, and yet she would do it if he provoked her well enough. With a sigh and a little grumpy noise, she rested her head on her forepaws and stared dully out to the horizon. "I apologize for not being able to know every single one of my pridemembers by heart. I'm only mortal." Her tone was exasperated as she rose to her own defense. Really, she wanted nothing more than to attack him verbally... but Hisa was there, and she was hovering quite protectively over Mapatano.

Elea was vaguely worried after her own health.

"Anyways," she carried on with a sigh, "I was hoping that when Nadra is healed, and you are in good health again, if you would watch Nadra and I hunt, and help us fine tune a few things in it." She shrugged her shoulder, pretending to not really care about his answer. But, she did want his help, if only to prevent Nadra from getting hurt again. She would not be able to bear seeing her bonded taken out of the sky once again - the pain would be too great, and she would not use Nadra to hunt at all, despite the vulture's protests. Elea had ways to make sure that Nadra stayed safe and away from danger. "If you're not up to it, I suppose it's fine. I won't force you to. Like I could."