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 Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:23 am
Marcor gave a great, slow sigh. Wet was not an optimal state to be in, and certainly not one he'd have chosen. Despite the discomfort, though, it really wasn't something that endangered his life, though it did make traveling potentially dangerous. For prey it could be outright deadly, for the footing became slippery and uncertain. As if on cue to his thought, a small family group of gazelle burst out from behind a clsuter of brush, bolting in leaping bounds to get as far away from the large lion as they could. Tiny, stilt-legged babes leapt among them, amazing in their fragility and speed. Luckily enough for them, he was in no mood to eat.
Instead, he shook out his mane, scattering yet more drops amongst the uncountable stream from the sky. His fur was plastered flat, but thankfully his mane was thick enough that it would take an outright dunking to get it anything close to deflated. Even so, steady trickles of rain meandered off his mane and into his face, dribbling into his eyes and down the creases of his face. The ground was more puddles than earth, and his paws were tan instead of dull gold and blue.
He supposed he could have gone looking for somewhere to hole up until the downpour ceased, but in his experience, just about the time he found one, the rain would let up. Or he'd find the shelter already occupied, which was a problem since most creatures, even fellow lions, seldom cared to share limited space with a lion of h is stature. A thick chest, broad shoulders, and a huge head tended to be more of an imposition than he cared to force on anyone in tight quarters during a storm. Thus he usually just kept right on padding along, enduring the wet with a determined endurance.
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:37 pm
What was wrong with this place? The thought passed through Shiva's head for the millionth time as she crept across the savanna. As if crouching low to the ground, granted not low enough to drag her belly through the mud, would hide her from the onslaught that broke over her head. It didn't, just in case you were curious.
Instead the rain drenched her to the bone, her pelt flat and taut against the lean sinew of her petite frame. Granted under the stinging needle-like droplets her coat had never looked cleaner. Pale and ghostly in the dark that overshadowed the lands by a blanket of angry, black clouds. It was an ominous change. A far cry from the blinding sun and arid heat of previous days.
With ears folded tight against her skull and platinum forelock falling heavily over her eyes, Shiva didn't see the frantic little herd of antelope bounding towards her. At least, not until the thundering of their hooves finally broke over the sound of the rain crashing down around them. Head rising with wide, startled eyes just in time to watch a doe charge into her path. The ground giving out beneath her hooves as she attempted to pivot with that famous agility the grazers were known for.
Unable to do anything but stare in horror as the heavy flight-animal lost its footing and tumbled into her, the little kajira felt the breath burst painfully from her lungs. Rolling in a tangled mass of reeling limbs as the momentum of the hit carried the pair across the ground and down into a steep but shallow ravine where a river had dried out. Not that it would remain that way for long if the storm didn't break soon.
Shiva struggled to escape the writhing doe, unable to cry out as they hit the ground with a hard splash in the gathering water at the bottom of the gulch. Grimacing when the antelope broke free of their jigsaw of legs, using the lioness as a springboard to escape the grave situation, mindless of how her sharp hooves scored that pretty, striped pelt.
Ultimately leaving Shiva'Soheila panting and wounded in the gully.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:44 am
Movement in a different direction than the gazelles had gone caught his attention. It seemed he'd also startled a small herd of antelope, though more likely it was the flight of the smaller prey that had drive the antelope into fleeing as well. They thundered off into the distance, and he watched them idly as he padded along. However, an unexpected motion of panic made him look closer as one of the antelope females disappeared from sight, tangled with something pale and glowing, like a moonbeam caught beneath the clouds. He frowned when the doe emerged to join her herd, but nothing of the same moonlight color reappeared.
He had been too far away to see what exactly had tangled with the doe and lost, but in this rain, and with the size difference, he was willing to bet things had not gone well at all for whomever had disappeared from sight. He broke into a lope to see if he could offer help to the defeated hunter. He managed to not plunge into the gully, but only just barely, having come upon it swifter than he'd thought. He slid to a halt, sending streams of mud over the edge and down into the depression. What a sorry sight met his eyes!
The body of a young lioness was crumpled in the muddy puddle forming at the bottom of the dip. Mud coated and splashed like earthen blood across her glowing hide, but slashes that did not correspond with her markings stood out starkly, traced with the muted warmth of the color of blood. She barely moved at first, and he became alarmed that she somehow had died of her injuries already. But a slight rise and fall of her ribcage told him she yet lived. Without hesitation he plunged down the steep incline to land beside her.
"C'mon, we need to get you out of here," he rumbled at her urgently, for more and more water was trickling down and puddling around her. "Can you get up?" He paced around her, trying to formulate the best way to get her up and out. He could easily carry her, but she'd have to be capable of holding on. He might be able to drag her, but he considered that a last resort, as it could make things worse, depending on how badly she was hurt.
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