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 Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:25 pm
 It Hurt! Oh how it hurt! She thought as she gritted her teeth in a silent snarl. Tsubame limped slowly through the tall grass of the savanna. It had only been a day since she faced that large green haired leopard and received a deep cut on the right pad of her front paw, it had only been two days since she had twisted the same paw from steeping in a hidden hole. She was in pain, to the point where she was only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Tsu had cleaned the wound three times already, each time she came to any body of water, but she had to keep moving so it was not getting much better. Staying in one place was dangerous for a lone injured female, but constantly moving was not helping her heal. A full day of walking with no food and little water was starting to take its toll as the hot sun beat down on her weary back. Her head hung low and her eyes were down cast as she did her best to keep her injured paw tucked close.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:12 pm
 Kamau sauntered over the grasses with ease, his small frame parting the grasses before him like a sea, and his tan back taking in the sun's rays. It was hot, but not stifling. Instead of looking for shade from the midday heat, he felt like he was seeking something else. He just didn't know what yet. His green eyes scanned forward, and his mouth turned up playfully. The lion felt good, maybe it was yesterday's lunch, or the feeling of independence - not being tethered to a pride or a family or a mate. Casually as he trotted on, he took time to bat at a large beetle, its wings and shell glimmering in the light.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:40 pm
Tsubame couldn't take it anymore. Unable to continue on she sunk down to the ground, stretched out in the grass with her injured paw tucked up against her chest. She was so exhausted and in pain that she didn't even hear someone coming closer, she just remained laying down in the tall grass, obvious to the world around her and wishing for the pain to go away. Her right paw seemed to throb in time with her heartbeat and her headache pounded a counter rhythm in her skull. Unknown to this independent lioness was that her paw had started to get infected and if it was not treated soon it might cause permanent damage.
What Tsu didn't realize is just a few feet away a small group of trees provided shade to the sun baked grasslands and they also sheltered a small spring of clear, cold water. It was what she was looking for but it seemed her strength ran out before she ever felt the shade of the trees on her hot head.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:22 pm
Kamau's tan back crossed under the dappled shade of leaves and he paused for a moment to bend and drink from a small spring, his reflection crystal clear, and the rabbit-skin pouch around his neck bumping against his chin with each lap. The ripples caused by his tongue sent strange reflections of the water to the shadowed leaves of the tree, and they caught his eye. The lion raised his head to watch them dance, but as he did his nose caught the scent of something.
He gathered his eyebrows, wrinkling his forehead, and stared without seeing. Something smelled wounded, and it smelled scared. It was odd, or maybe another meal. Kamau's muscles tensed and he wandered forward, low to the ground, ready to spring, but more eager to investigate.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:09 pm
Tsubame groaned in pain, laying down was not helping, it still hurt horribly and to add insult to injury her nose was itching. After swiping at her nose she rested a moment before forcing herself to her feet. This move was accompanied by gritted teeth and growls of pain, she was not about to give into her body's demand to give up and pass out. Even with her eye sight graying slightly from the need to rest fully, she staggered forward a few steps before her eyesight streaked with black and she sunk into the oblivion called blacking out.
Her seemingly lifeless body collapsed like a puppet who had its strings cut. Only by a miracle did she collapse half in the shade of one of the small trees at the edge of the small spring. And even though she had collapsed on her injured paw her smallish frame and light body weight caused no more damage to it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:47 am
Kamau's ears tilted forward, as did the bulk of his body, but he held his breath as a groan reached his ears. A growl followed, and in response, he flinched. His green eyes unblinking, he took a step backwards, reevaluating a further look into the matter. The lion tilted his head, leaning it towards the source and looking concerned more for his own safety than for the wounded animal. He further shuffled away as steps brought it closer, and as the grasses gave way to blue, he hesitated, frozen, and the body fell.
The cowardly lion shirked back, still alert for any predator that could follow its felled prey. But after a minute nothing appeared. And his bright eyes fell back to the blue body. A lioness? It made sense. It sounded like one, and smelled like one before he'd seen her. But he couldn't see the gash on her paw. Cautiously, he stepped forward, and nudged her. She didn't seem conscious, but undoubtedly, she was wounded. Kamau wasn't much of a medicine man, but he knew better to drag her into the shade. He gently grasped the nape of her neck and pulled her body forward, finding it easier than he had expected, she must have been underfed too. He released her at the edge of the pool and splashed her with water, not knowing what else to do. Perhaps that would be fine. She was still breathing after all.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:13 pm
Tsubame came to with water dripping down her face and a lion standing over her. Her first reaction was to run away, to many bad things have happened in regards to males for her to have any other reaction. But with her paw throbbing in pain and her head feeling stuffed with grass, she just laid there trying to get her bearings.
She realized that she was in the cool shade of a small grove of trees and was right next to a pool of water. She remembered trying to keep moving after collapsing out in the hot sun so it stood to reason that this lion brought her into the shade and to water. Still worried about this cream and brown lion's intention but the smell of the clear cool water over rode that worry so with some gritting of her teeth she shifted enough to get a drink, with one eye on the lion just in case.
After drinking her fill she was then more clearheaded then she had for a while and knew that regardless of the danger of exposing her injury to the strange lion it had to be taken care off. With an eye on the male she pulled her right paw out from the fairly safe confines of being tucked up next to her chest. With trepidation she examined the sensitive pad and cut that extended diagonally through it. It was sore and slightly inflamed, the cut itself was red and still had some dirt stuck in it. "What am I going to do?" she said quietly, almost desperately.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:51 pm
The stink of the infection crawled into Kamau's nose, and without meaning to, his face wrinkled as an answer. He smoothed his features and peered intently at her hidden paw. "Gee, lady. What happened there?" His voice was soft and he accompanied with a tilt of his head. He didn't know either what she was going to do, and he watched her as she watched herself, not offering any help, but probably because he knew not what good he could be. The lion glanced over his shoulder. Could he get her something to eat? But his green eyes glancing back to her knew that food was not the most pressing issue in this situation. He shuffled his feet, uncomfortable and not knowing what to do.
He cleared his throat and his toes danced awkwardly. "I'm Kamau. Who are you?" Now his head tilted in the other direction. Before waiting for an answer her continued. "...Is there anything I could do to help?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:23 pm
Tsubame was so engrossed in her injury that she briefly forgot about the large male who was still standing next to her, it was not until he asked what had happened that she looked up at him. Quietly and with pain lacing her voice she said in a emotionless voice, "A male did it. And no!" She said nothing else, like that small answer would make sense to this other male. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Tsu had an idea as to what needed to be done, the cut had to be cleaned even thought it had started to heal over the dirt and grit..
Looking around she found what she needed, a thick stick. With that between her teeth, Tsubame used one claw to deliberately reopen the wound... and it hurt. With her teeth sunk deep in the now flimsy seeming stick she carefully applied pressure, with out her claws, until the cut was bleeding freely. She fought unconsciousness as she placed her paw in the water then did her best to wash what was left of the grit out. It wasn't until she was satisfied with her patchy healing job did she allow her self to slip into oblivion once again, her last conscious thought was Now if I can just keep it from getting even worse. Valetudo'Sero was wondering the grasslands using the illusionary powers that were inherent in all gods to seem invisible. She was looking for some of the herbs that she had fallen low on when she came upon the small grove of trees. Normally she would have just kept walking when she noticed two others by the small water source but when the smell of fresh blood as well as infection reached her sensitive nose she had to stop. Keeping the invisible illusion going she crept closer and saw a blue female on the ground passed out with a stick ground between her teeth, the smell came from the paw that was dangling in the water. Val nodded when she saw the stick, figuring it was to prevent the lioness from biting her tongue. It only took a moment to determine that the lioness did her best to clear out the dirt that was causing the beginning of infection and passed out in pain.
With that decided Val used her knowledge to mix a few different plants and with some water she made a paste in a small leather bag. She was going to 'appear' and help but she looked up at the other lion, a male, who looked worried. Val smiled and left the small bag of paste there in the grass near the guy, hoping that he would figure out what to do with it.
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:55 pm
Kamau was slightly put off at her answer, and her hasty 'no'. But he did feel a twang of pity as a member of his gender had caused her suffering. But, he huffed. It wasn't his fault. And she could have at least shared her name! He watched her take the stick between her teeth, obviously clueless to her intentions. Maybe she was hungry after all, and delirious from the infection. He opened his mouth to speak, but nearly bit his tongue with how quickly he snapped it shut when he watched the blood and puss well from her reopened wound. His skin shivered and his body shuddered. Some part of his mind wondered if she was a masochist and caused her own damage. His green eyes followed her paw, wincing, as she dipped it in the water and passed out once more.
With its washing, the scent started to fade ever so slightly. And now, it was replaced by another smell. Something carried over from sitting next to him, and he stared curiously at the small leather pouch. The contents smelled bitter and acrid, but clean and fresh. It didn't make much sense for something that had been left there. But Kamau found it odd, how it had escaped him before. But he shrugged it off as preoccupation with the lioness. Glancing around for its original owner, he waited, and flicked it open. It seemed to be a salve or a paste within, and he tilted his head, befuddled. Leaning closer to take another whiff, his eyes watered with the potency of the herbs. Looking back at the lioness, he wondered...
Gingerly, he took her paw in his teeth and lifted it from the water, and applied the salve. He didn't know where this idea came from, and he had no prior experience with healing, but it seemed like it was the best thing to do for her health. When finished, he sat back on his haunches and sighed, hoping he'd been right.
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:02 pm
Val was pleased when the tan male used her salve on the blue female. She nodded silently, confident in the strengthen of the healing and disinfectant powers of the paste before turning around and leaving the two lions. ((she wont come back now))
Tusbame came around slowly. Her paw was still hurting but it was more of a fading throb then what it was before. Still a little groggy she looked around and saw the same male still standing over her, she was about to snap at him when she noticed that her paw had a salve on it and put 2 and 2 together. "Thank you," she said quietly yet heartfelt, only one other male has ever been nice to her and she was beginning to think that all males were bad.
"Um, my name is Tsubame." she squirmed a bit, trying to get comfortable since she did not think she should get up quite yet and mess up this lion's medical treatment. Tsu moved the chewed stick out of the way, it was nearly bit in half, and examined her paw. The greenish paste was making the cut tingle a bit, but in a good way, and the strong smell of the herbs tickled her nose making her sneeze. "Pardon me."
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:11 pm
Kamau quickly looked over his shoulder, a shiver running down his spine as though a breeze tickled him suddenly, or as if he'd been watched. But shaking off the feeling, he heard the female begin to stir. His ears turned forward and he tilted his head, his ears pricked forward to catch her faint voice. He smiled, part prideful, and part sheepish that it hadn't been his own creation. He glanced away before looking back to her. "...Tsubame. That's a lovely name." He said it quietly to himself, like an aside, but was watching her the whole time. Grinning again, he stood, and bowed. "And I, Tsubame, am Kamau." His maw only spread wider as she sneezed, and he held in a chuckle.
He flopped down in front of her, yet still a distance away, his face now on the same level as hers, but resting on his paws, his bright green eyes watched the blue female. Kamau's tail flicked, and his face was curious, but otherwise expressionless. He was curious as to why a male hurt her so, and if she'd deserved it, but the level of gratitude didn't suggest such was the case. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it with a snap, and a faint 'hmmm' from his chest.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:26 pm
Tsubame watched Kamau, she was not as worried as she first was but was still a bit weary, he was a male after all and she was injured. When he laid down some distance away and proceeded to watch her with his bright green eyes, Tsu shifted a bit in nervousness. Why is he looking at me? She thought as she studied the grass. Her natural shyness and her learned weariness of males made talking to someone who had the upper hand like this difficult for her so when she heard a faint hum coming from Kamau she blurted out, "It's not my fault you know."
She gritted her teeth and waited to see what Kamau would say, Tsu hated that she felt pressured enough to speak but it was not like she could take it back. Taking a deep breath she did her best to relax after all this male has done nothing to make her doubt him and he had even helped her when she really needed it.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:19 pm
Kamau watched her, a bit detached as she defended herself, but the look on her face moved his cold heart. He moved to sit next to her, and placed a brown paw between her blue shoulders, lightly, as a gesture of comfort, and tried not to seem intimidating. Tilting his head, though she probably wouldn't see it more than out of the corner of her eye, he sighed and spoke softly, "Do you want me to stay with you for the night?"
Tilting his head quickly in the opposite direction, he figured it may have come out strangely. "I mean... It wouldn't really be all that safe for a wounded lioness such as yourself to spend the night alone and defenseless like this. And I could bring you some food..."
"If you want..."
He looked away shyly, and flopped his tail on the ground, confused as to what to say next.
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:39 pm
Tsubame stiffened when Kamau walked closer to her and even put his paw between her shoulders but when he did nothing but offer to stick around for the night, and for her safety no less, she relaxed a bit even if a little part of her was ringing a little alarm bell and trying to remind her that no male was to be trusted.
With the knowledge that Kamau has done nothing to make her distrust him, and had even helped her, she answered back with only a slight waver in her voice. "I guess that would be best," she shifted a bit, feeling the body heat of him on her back and side, "after all I don't think I could hunt let alone fight with this paw." She tried to make the last part a joke but even to her it was not funny, added to the fact that she wasn't even sure how long she would be incapable of taking care of herself.
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