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 Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:23 pm
Roho had taken the last watch that night, settled atop a smooth plane of rock with the wind in her face and her companions tucked out of sight behind her. She lay on her stomach, forepaws crossed before her and head up. Her eerie, light-blue eyes were wide and alert, her ears turning slow half-circles about her head. She could not recline in relaxation. Not any more. Every sound of the night spooked her. Every waft of unfamiliar scent on the wind had her hackles rising with nervous anticipation. Her eyes would play tricks on her, too, and twice already she had leapt to her paws, growling into the darkness. She had cursed at herself for being so twitchy. But it could not be helped. They had been preyed upon and destroyed and those murderers were still out there. Still waiting to recapture those who had dared to oppose them.
Now, however, there was some respite.
Dawn was coming.
The top edge of the sun could be seen now, spreading its warm fingers up into the inky darkness and tingeing it with red. Her eyes briefly fixated on the swell of gold as it reached into the shadow and sought the light. Behind her, in the trees, the first of the birds burst into song and Roho felt the tightness in her neck and shoulders ease a little at the sound. If danger lurked, the birds would sense it. She remembered what a delight it had been to hear them after many days of fleeing for her life. Their bright song as they welcomed the day and called to friends and mates. It had given her hope then and it did so now.
They had lived to survive another day.
Then it came. A scent upon the wind. Roho half-rose, her back arched and rigid as she realised that soon they would not be alone. Rogues had come and gone without casting them a second glance but this...this was different...
She...she...she knew this one! She did! And, with a startled chirp, she leapt to her paws and sought the wild lands for the owner of that scent. Could it really be true? Could the dawn have brought a new hope?
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:36 pm
Suditi was running. Running away from disaster, away from the memories - the images - that were now burned into her mind. Everything was gone, destroyed. And she hadn't been there to defend those that she cherished. Once she had taken her life for granted. Always she lived in the present, never really worried about the future. She had been happy; not always content with things, but still it was her home. When she had left the borders, she knew that she would return soon. Everyone couldn't just disappear in such a short while after all....at least so she had thought.
And now there was nothing.
The lioness had slowed down to a stumbling walk, the pads of her paws ached from pounding relentlessly against the tough savanna. Every inch of her body screamed in pain from running all night. She had never once stopped or even slowed down until now. Still nothing matched the pain in her chest. It was the pain that made her delirious even now, Suditi thought. For why else would this scent, this all too familiar scent be nearby?
Yet she had been following such scents since she first left. It had been in desperation. Surely no one, nothing had been left after what she had seen. Still there it was. Ears twitching at sudden noise Suditi stumbled to a halt. Ever so slowly, she turned and blinked at the figure coming towards her. Was it possible? Or was she really going delusional?
Was that Roho?
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:42 pm
As the figure grew closer, the touch of the first light of dawn lit across the brilliant red hide streaked with black. There was no mistaking it then. If her nose had lied to her, her eyes had not. The female approaching was Suditi. Their Suditi!
Under normal circumstances, Roho would have given a roar of greeting. However, the need for stealth had silenced such things and, instead, the female charged forwards to meet the female, being sure not to move too far away from the small group resting in cover. After all, Suditi or not, she still had a job to do! And, only when the other female was close enough, did Roho dare to speak - her voice lowered but thick with emotion.
"Suditi. Suditi, it is you. It is." She closed the gap between them and extended her neck to press her forehead firmly to the other's. "I thought you were dead! Dead with all the rest!"
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:53 pm
That dark red pelt with its beautiful markings and those bright eyes. Suditi recognized this other lioness all too well. Surely this wasn't a delusion of her mind then, but really Roho. Her friend. She was alive! Emotions flickered in Suditi's gaze then before she closed her eyes and pressed closer to the other lioness. "I-" She paused and swallowed as Roho's words finalized the truth for her. The very truth that she had been running from. The truth that now tore at her heart, at her soul.
Dead with all the rest.
She knew. The place she visited reeked of it, yet the lioness had somehow hoped that she was wrong. That somehow everyone managed to run away from that place and that it wasn't their blood, thier bodies that decorated the ground. A tear leaked from her already watery eyes. "I'm alive, silly. I'm too stubborn to die..." She managed to whisper, the faint smile far from reaching her eyes, "But who else?" Her desperate gaze sought Roho's, "How many?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:09 pm
Roho nodded softly. "It is good to have you back, Suditi. I did not dare to hope that anyone else might catch up with us..." She trailed, feeling guilty now for wanting the group to press on and give up on the frail hope that others might find them. And here before her stood proof that some had - against all odds - escaped the clutches of death to live again to fight another day.
"Not many." The female whispered, closing her bright eyes briefly. "Jianjun is dead. Nawvlee leads us now. We're going to get away from here, Suditi. From all of this...death." She took a step back to look over the female who stood before her. She looked in reasonable health; no wounds marring her pelt or hindering her step.
"You were not among the captives, Suditi. What happened to you? How did you escape?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:21 pm
"I'm just glad to see that you made it out alive." Suditi whispered, blinking back the tears. What Roho had seen must have been horrible, what any of those who had been there must have seen....she had only seen what remained and that itself had been enough to scar her. What the others experienced must have been so much worst.
"Not many?" Her heart seemingly stopped at the confirmation and the lioness pulled away from Roho so she could look away from her friend. Even though she had no real family left to speak of in the pride, everyone else had been family for her. What was left now? "Jianjun? Dead?" She repeated with horror. Their leader was gone. "Wait-" She looked back at Roho, "Nawvlee leads now?" Her gaze regained some hope. If Nawvlee was leading them then what remained was surely in good paws. "Where are we to go?" She asked quietly, her expression troubled.
The next question made Suditi look back away. Guilt marred her features as she sighed. If it wasn't Roho who asked maybe just maybe she would listen to the urge to push aside the truth. But she couldn't lie to Roho. No matter how shameful it was. "Roho - I - I was never captured. I never even saw the enemy who did this to everyone. I was not there."
The truth of it made the lioness dig her claws into the ground and her gaze never left the dirt that was on her paws, "I wasn't even there to defend our home."
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:38 pm
"We almost didn't. The others will be overjoyed to see you are safe and sound. We were beginning to lose hope that anyone else had escaped the clutches of the Nameless Ones." She set a paw on Suditi's and nodded slowly but firmly. "Then there is much to tell you, it seems. Perhaps I should enlighten you before you meet with the others." If she didn't, no doubt there'd be a time of chaos as the poor female tried to absorb all of this new information.
Roho sat and gestured for Suditi to do so, too. Sitting would help with the shock...maybe...
"Whilst you were gone, strange lions came to our lands. At first they tried to talk with us but it was a...a hopeless task. We did not understand them and they did not understand us. They spoke in a foreign tongue that no one had ever heard before. When communication failed...they became...violent. A fight broke out but we were outmatched. The fight turned into a slaughter." Roho was rather surprised to find how difficult it was to tell the story and relive the moment that her whole world had been turned upside down. She had thought herself stronger than that. "Some of us were captured. Most of us were killed. Why we were spared and others weren't...I honestly couldn't tell you. We must have suited some purpose but one that I don't understand and hope never to. It was Nawvlee who formed our escape plan and those of us who were willing to attempt it joined with him. Bad weather masked our attempt at flight, but...but even then more lives were lost. We stayed here because some were separated during our escape. We hoped others might find their way here." She paused. "But they haven't."
She set a paw on Suditi's shoulder. "Have no regrets, dear friend. You have lived to fight another day. It is in us that the way of the Hongshan still lives. Better here with us than amongst the bodies of our dead."
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:50 pm
"Thank the gods for that." She whispered before giving a small smile at Roho, "I'm glad to hear that. I - I'm blessed to have ran into you so soon after returning from...there." Suditi paused and swallowed, "Please do so. I need to know." Perhaps she wouldn't ask for her friend to tell her everything, it was probably to hard for either to listen to the details of the slaughter. But she did want to know what had caused this. Who had the nerve to destroy so many.
As she sat the lioness watched Roho carefully. But it was her gaze that brimmed with unshed tears as she listened to Roho's story, the truth about what she had missed while out in the rogue lands. It was far from happy. "That..." She gritted her teeth together and shook her head, "If only I had been there!" Her hiss turned into a soft sob. "So many lost and I wasn't there!"
"That is true." She smiled weakly at Roho before bowing her head again, "I apologize Roho. I came back from the rogue lands to the pride before coming here. It wasn't pretty." She looked up, her gaze thoughtful, "What I missed, must have been terrible for everyone. Your pain must double mine." She had no right to break down now, no tears would bring back the dead.
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:01 pm
Roho was not an outwardly emotional female, but inside her heart was breaking away, slowly but surely. Everyone she had ever cared for had been snatched so cruelly away, leaving her with nothing--no, that wasn't true. Some of her friends still lived and their survival was surely a blessing. Something to cling to. Something precious that she would never, ever take for granted again.
"You have nothing to apologise for. No one saw this coming. You could not have known what was about to take place...it all happened so fast." She shook her head grimly.
"There is pain. Much pain. But the time for grieving is not yet, I fear. We have a great journey ahead to ensure our safety. Only then can I think on what has happened. But until I know we have left the danger well and truly behind us..." She sighed deeply. "We have a plan. Or the beginning of a plan at the very least. Adiel has spoken of a pride that might accept us. A pride of warriors. That is where we will head. Now that you are here, I fancy we shall be on the move very soon."
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:12 pm
"Roho." Suditi looked up at her friend and nuzzled the other female comfortingly, "Thank you." Her gaze softened as she pulled away, "When the time is for grieving then I shall be here, dear friend." She didn't dare ask about who was left now. She would see for herself, it was best this way. She didn't dare want to risk hurting Roho more by finding out who was gone. Especially if some of those gone were truly those who had been close to her friend. Could she have lost-
No.
She wouldn't think about it. Instead her mind focused on the news about this pride, "Another warrior pride?" She felt bitter about the news. Hadn't there been enough fighting to show what was left of them how that ended? Yet, she understood. They were all warriors in their own way and nothing would change that. No matter how much pain that might bring. And perhaps this pride of warriors would be their salvation. Else what was left to have hope for? "Shall we go to the others then?" She commented lightly, "That way we may leave really soon. I'm curious about this warrior pride that Adiel has spoken of after all." Adiel, was alive as well. That too was good news besides the warrior pride. Suditi gave her friend a small smile as she stood, "I'm ready."
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:18 pm
"I do not know whether our path is the right one, but I trust in Nawvlee. I will follow him to the ends of the world whether I have doubts or not."
Roho stood and nodded solemnly. "They sleep now but the sun rises. I do not think they shall mind me waking them a little earlier than planned when they see you at my side." She gave the other a small smile, padding softly forwards a few steps.
"Your arrival here will surely do them all some good." With a gesture for the other female to follow, Roho hopped back up onto the rock and moved down into the trees where a small huddle of lions lay hidden from sight.
/fin
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