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 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:25 am
 Why was the sun so unbearably ******** hot today? Pink tongue lolled as it hung from parted jaws, releasing panting breaths under the blazing sun. Bacarudo's rich brunette pelt trapped heat nearly as efficiently as a ebony one would have, much to his dismay. He certainly wasn't having an easy time as of late, the brawny figure moving with stiff hind quarters thanks to the deep gouges in his haunches. No thanks to one particularly meddlesome little b***h. Baca was still brooding over the encounter, the open gashes in his face wouldn't allow him to forget so easily what she or her so called savior had done.
His wounds were days old now, no longer oozing but lack of water left the male crusted in blood which had traveled in thin lines down his maw and hindquarters. Garnet caked into his fur creating the illusion of ominous, unsavory markings. Flies danced along the edges of each laceration, inflicting further agony as they gnawed at broken flesh. Bacarudo made no indication of the pain though, brow twitching with annoyance at the fact that all the tail lashing and head shaking in the world couldn't seem to dislodge them for more than a few seconds. He would have killed for some thunder showers or hell, even a puddle at this point would have sufficed.
Lifting golden gaze towards the sky the lack of cloud cover was terribly disappointing, visage dropping to the distant horizon which wavered with the rising heat. Heavy paw prints carried Baca across the dry land, arching a brow as he appeared to be approaching on a commotion in the distance. Perhaps it was water, on days like these it wasn't uncommon to see scuffles over resources and large gatherings of predators and prey mingling in closer quarters than was usually comfortable. Of course, it could have also been a hunting party, cream drizzled figure was still to far to tell for certain. Dry tongue wrapping over the tip of his nose, wriggling with the hope of catching some indication either way on the air. Not that it mattered, whether the situation was hostile or not there would have been no change in the brute's manner or approach.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:59 pm
Kefilwe’s coat was as good as hanging out a neon sign with bright flashing colors: HEY, LOOK AT ME, RAYS. COME ON DOWN, SUNBEAM. JOIN THE PARTY ON MY FLANKS! This meant that the lion’s day was mostly filled with desperately hunting down any bit of shade he could find or, better yet, water. Today was a good day for him; for one thing, he had caught a rabbit, one that was nearly scrawnier than him. This was not a good land for anyone, especially herbivores. Blood still stained the young lion’s jaws, but wouldn’t for long, not with the way he was cleaning them. Any bit of moisture had to be saved, even from blood.
The other good thing that happened today was the discovery of bushes. Oh, they were sad scraggly-looking things, ones that looked half-dead in even the best of times, but Kef knew there was more than met the eye. Abandoning the bones of his pathetic kill, Kef pawed at the base of the yellowed bushes, trying to dig them up. These sorts of plants needed actual water, he knew. They couldn’t get by on just storing moisture in thick tubers or anything. Their very presence meant that, somewhere under that cracked hard soil, there was liquid water.
Dust flew up behind Kefilwe as his large paws dug at the dirt, trying to find this elusive water source. In the right light, with the play of the shadows dancing across the dust motes, it could have looked, just for one second, like a shimmer of water. Tail lashing behind him, the lion coughed several times before shaking his head to try and dislodge some of that hated dust. Ugh… it was worse than… than… well, not anything, he reflected. He had been in worse places than this. Still, right now, it was hard to remember when. His paw touched damp dirt and his heart nearly stopped. It wasn’t much, but it was something to start with. In this land, any water was worth fighting for.
It was then that Kef became aware of the approach of another. There was a subtle change in the world around him, an unspoken whisper of something coming. Very cautiously, the young lion peeked out of his hole and stared at the paws of the other lion. Kef’s yellow eyes made their ascent, starting at the paws and working their way up until they finally met the eyes of the other lion.
“…”
That was all that was said for several long moments since Kef couldn’t think of anything worth saying. What did one say in this sort of situation anyway? ‘Hello’ didn’t seem to cut it, and neither did, ‘I say, what splendid wounds you have there, chap!’. The other male was bigger, but it didn’t take much. Besides, he was also wounded, which gave Kefilwe the advantage here. If there was a fight, he could at least run faster than the other male.
“…Hello?” he eventually hazarded, on the basis that sometimes clichés were clichés because they worked. “I don’t see a lot of other lions out here…” actually, he wasn’t completely convinced that the other lion really was out here. It could be a hallucination.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:25 am
As he gained footing on the dusty plains towards the disturbance, Bacarudo's sharp, amber eyes realized that the dark cloud of dust that was settling into a now thinning veil had been the only sign of life around for miles. Well s**t. He felt his chest sink with disappointment and annoyance at such a misleading image. Was it really hot enough for mirages, today? That couldn't have been a good sign, perhaps his brain had fried in the sun.
The scent of moisture was real though and his sensitive nose twitched with the strengthening indication of it.
Reluctantly drifting into the mist of dirt, Baca nearly walked himself right into a hole where another male sat, peering at him with parted jaws as if he intended to say something but couldn't quite find the appropriate words. A burrowing lion? Even the earthy colored male could safely say in all his rogue wisdom that he'd never seen such a thing. Hesitating at the edge of the hole it was safe to say that the raised brow indicated that he thought the stranger in a rather peculiar state. That was, until he realized that the aroma of water seemed to originate from the self-made grave.
Taking note of the sorry looking shrub sprouting an even more intriguing thought occurred to him. This stranger was digging for water the roots of the plant thirsted for in order to survive. Clever boy. Offering the other an unintelligible sound that wasn't quite a greeting he slid his paws into the crater, claws gripping tightly to the wall in order to lean in without allowing gravity to pull him to the bottom. Dropping his shoulders, stout build stretched towards the unearthed water in hopes of at least sating his dry tongue before he continued his journey in search of a better source.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:16 pm
O… k… this was awkward. Kefilwe now had a rather important issue at paw. When the apparition didn’t speak, Kef had no choice but to assume it was just a hallucination. Then again, his hallucinations were typically friendlier, or at least they entertained him with a song and dance routine. While he was busy dithering over whether or not the other lion was actually real or not, the stranger started to lean way over to get a sip of the precious water that Kef had been slaving to uncover.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, unable to stop himself and the tetchiness in his voice. “Is ‘grunt’ Stoic for, ‘may I please have some water?’ or were you just clearing your throat?” Actually, this was a bit unfair. He had no idea how long the other lion----or possible hallucination, or whatever----had been wandering around out there. And from the look of those scars, he needed the water more… but, damnit, Kef had worked for that water! It was his!
But… but, on the other paw, was it really worth starting a fight over? It was likely that there was other water under the ground anyway. For all of his tough words, Kef slunk away to dig for water on the other side of the hole, abandoning the small puddle he had recently uncovered. It wasn’t worth getting killed over or even injured. It wasn’t long before he dug out a pathetic well of water, more mud than liquid. All the same, he lapped at it, trying to keep an eye on the intruder.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:47 am
Muddy water dripped from Bacarudo's chin when finally he lifted burly head from the puddle, thin lips twitching in response to the bristling statement. He wasn't about to deny that he'd deserved that. Circling around to the opposite side where his savior sat drinking from the other side, gruffly pushing smaller frame out of the way in order to drop into the stranger's ditch. Baca used thick paws to help shovel out the dusty earth in huge clumps until a decent sized puddle, large enough for a small cluster of lions to drink at comfortably sat beneath the mangled roots of the shrub.
Thick haunches flexed with the effort to reel himself back from the steep decline, offering a nod to the hole where the sediment was settling to reveal clear water to drink. His awkward attempt at redemption for his behavior as he cleared his throat and murmured huskily, admittedly impressed by the younger male. Not that one would have ever guessed as much by his dry tone and indifferent expression. Where'd you learn to do that?
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:56 am
Oh, come on! Kefilwe had just uncovered another puddle when the stranger decided he wanted to claim that one too. Now the young lion was getting annoyed, wondering if maybe it was worth fighting over the puddles after all. If the stranger continued to steal all the water for himself, Kef felt he had no choice… but, all the same, he slunk out of the way. He really wasn’t a fighter, even when his opponent looked half-dead from his own wounds.
After a time, it became clear that the stranger was actually helping with the hole now, digging towards the clear water instead of mere sediment. Well, that was an improvement over simply stealing the water. Kef watched and rested, trying to find some meager shade. That was possibly the only thing rarer than water in this sort of place. At first, he thought the low murmur was just a trick of the wind but, eventually, he figured out that the other lion was speaking.
“Ah, so the stranger speaks… do you mean, where did I learn how to dig holes or how did I figure out how to find water? It’s pretty much the same answer anyway. Survival skills. I’m very attached to my life so survival skills are pretty much required. ‘S why they’re called ‘survival skills’.”
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:26 am
Pacing away from the freshly dug hole with gritty, mud covered forepaws Baca stiffly made his way towards his sassy new acquaintance. Lumbering to sit nearby, but not so close that either one would be made uncomfortable by the invasion of space. A short breath issuing as the sinew in his torn flank flexed tenderly, the wounds too far for the stout brute to reach for cleaning. Unfortunately it left the fur around unpleasant gashes crusted and rough in appearance. Not much one could do though, that was the way of the world. Eventually they would scab over and the flesh would mend itself in gnarly scars too thick to grow fur over. Just one more testament of Bacarudo's desire to survive.
Perhaps he didn't understand much else about the equally dark lion beside him, but he could relate to the younger male's point of view in that aspect. That didn't make them the same though. Shaggy head tipping lazily as he gazed at the other, voice drawling low and lazy and completely unruffled for the moment. Meant how'd you know that there'd be water at the roots of that plant? Survived a long time without ever hearing about that trick.It's not somethin' we just know... 'less you were some kinda prodigy or somthin'. You a prodigy, kid?
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