[PRP] Women Thy Name is Evil! (Tabia & Aethon)

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia checked on the concealment around the 'safe den' she was using for the night. It was only one of a series of them that the Nera had set up for their Pride members as they moved to and from their missions. Places where they could rest, lay low, and if need be, recover from any wounds they might have received.

This particular time, Tabia wasn't in need of the den herself, but rather the male she had been dragging behind her for the better part of the day did. So, she'd crawled into it, fixed up the sweet grass bed, and laid him out on it.

Now, she was just making sure that the entrance was well hidden. SHe'd already made sure that her guest was tied up good and tight, and that there was water and a good sized pouch rat inside the den for him to eat when he finally woke up.  

[Tanakako]

Slowly, the darkness receded into a pounding headache that sounded as if a whole herd of elephants had found their way inside his head and were stomping around. Groaning brokenly he covered his face with a paw, trying to escape the weak light that filtered past his closed eyelids to sear his brain with fresh agony.

What the hell had he eaten to give him such a mad head... surely there weren't that many fermented fruits laying around...

It took quite some time for the male to realize that it wasn't just one paw resting across his face, but both of them... Frowning he lowered them and tried to separate his forelegs, but when one lifted, the other followed as if tied to the first. Thoroughly annoyed by now the cheetah finally forced his eyes open and squinted down at his limbs. What met his confused gaze simply didn't make sense, for there was something brown and stringy wrapped around his ankles, pinning his legs together.

Now.. why would I do that?

Confused as all getout the male tried to move onto his belly but the world suddenly tilted to the side and his head dropped back to the bed of grass involuntarily.

"... Hu...?"
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Soothing paws moved over his brow and a turtle shell of water was guided up to his muzzle, the clear, cool, scent of it carried to him. "The headache will clear faster if you have something to drink and eat," a light voice told him even as the shell was tipped up, " I have some pouch rat here, just killed it a few hours ago. It took you a little longer to wake up then I expected."

Tabia set the turtle shell down once he drunk and began to disjoint the rat for him, cutting it up into bit size chucks so he wouldn't choke. Last thing she needed was for him to die before she had a chance to parlay with him about a new life with the Nera.

After all, he was going to have a very large price on his head from the Pirates, and anything the Pirates went after, the Storm Born seemed to chase too....could make things a titch uncomfortable for him in the future....lucky for him, she had an elegant solution...protection in the form of the Nera.  

[Tanakako]

The gentle touch across his fur made him close his eyes with a sigh of pleasure. Though he did wonder who it was he had spent the night with. He did not remember wooing any female the eve before but then.. with as much fruit as he had eaten then it was hardly surprising. Dipping his muzzle he lapped at the water gratefully, hoping it would ease the pounding of the elephants in his head.

Suddenly his mind caught up with what she had said. A little longer to wake up than expected? Blinking his eyes open again he tried to focus past the end of his muzzle and stared up at her, though at first all he saw was a purpleish haze. Wait... purple... A memory tugged at him, making him squint with the pain.

THE DEMONESS! Suddenly everything from earlier that day came back to him in a rush and he tried to leap up, but only succeeded in squirming about on the grass bedding enough that he finally rolled off with a thump that left him winded and his ears ringing alarmingly.

"ITS YOU! You crazy woman! What have you done to me?!"
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia neatly picked up the turtle shell, scooping it out of the way as he rolled onto the floor at her paws, looking down at him from across her shoulder, a slight frown on her muzzle, " Now really, is that anyway to speak to someone who saved your life and is offering you a way to keep your pelt on your spine?"

Her voice was slightly annoyed as she set the shell down and eyed him as he did a fair good impersonation of a fish out of water, " You've got a huge price on your head from the Maestro de Mar lion's, and you can believe that the Myrsky Syntynyt will want in on that, if anything Lucivar will want to just so he can tweek Zamora's tail, " Tabia's tail moved side to side, rather pleased with the cloak and dagger maze she'd created, " You're worth far more to me if I turned you over to either of them....but...I'm not a cruel cheetah. I am willing to give you a chance to be of MORE worth to me alive and in my paws rather then dead and in theirs...but I'm not going to explain if you keep flopping about like that. " She tisked at him as she moved her paws out of the way of his thrashing.  

[Tanakako]

As she spoke he could only gape in stupefied amazement and raising anger. So by the time she finished speaking, Aethon was red in the face with outraged fury. Stuttering and spluttering with the force of emotions that filled him he finally burst out.

"IT WAS YOU WHO GOT ME IN TO THAT MESS!"

Flailing about he finally managed to squirm onto his belly more by luck than design and glared up at her, fair vibrating with anger and resentment. "And why would I want to be worth anything to you?!" he ground out, too maddened by the her trick to really work out what she was saying.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia peered down at him, her tail swishing back and forth in a lazy arch, " Because if you're not worth anything to me, why...you're worth only the carrion your carcass can provide to the vultures and hyenas that graze the wastelands." Her voice was tenderly sweet.

" Now, I'll let you think about things. When you are ready to listen to reason, just let me know. I'll be grooming right over there." She pointed with an elegant paw to the corner of the little den. Reaching down she patted his cheek, and sauntered off to just that.  

[Tanakako]

Aethon stared at her in furious stupefaction, rendered entirely speechless by his outraged fury. The condescending pat to his cheek broke the spell on him and a tirade of impotent cursing and threats followed her across the den as the trapped cheetah male threw himself about bodily in an attempt to get free and reach her.

It was several hours later when the cheetah finally fell quiet, exhausted by the situation and fighting the bindings that had only gotten tighter with his struggling. Laying on his side, chest heaving as he panted, he closed his eyes in defeat. She had tricked him good and proper and he couldn't see a way out of the mess she had put him in.

Females were demons in disguise.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia took her time with her grooming, being sure that every inch of her pelt was neat an tidy, taking particular care with her paws and between her toes. Not that they needed any more attention then the rest of her, Tabia was very well groomed all the time, but more so she could keep an eye on her 'guest'.

When he was good and worn out, she unfolded herself from her perch and glided back over to him, jumping back on the ledge he had lain on before he'd rolled himself onto the floor. Smiling at him sweetly, she set the shell of pouch rat down by his head.

" You ready to listen to me? Or do I have to keep you trussed up like some kind of water buffalo for the rest of our little trip together?"  

[Tanakako]

When the female moved closer, he opened one eye and stared up at her darkly, not bothering to hide how much he disliked her. Ignoring the meal to make a point he stared at her angrily. "You don't have to keep me tied up." He hadn't said she could trust him, as he would make a run for it the moment she released his legs.

Lifting his lip he just barely covered the growl before he turned and grabbed the bloody meat from the shell and bolted it down. He was starving, having not eaten all day and the seed she had given him seemed to have made him hungrier than he had ever been in his life. He wanted some water too but he was not about to ask her for anything.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia laughed, the sound wicked, " Please, I wasn't born yesterday. I know full well the moment I let those ropes go you're out the door and across the savanna, willing to take your chances with the lions who want your handsome pelt in a sling."

She set down another shell with some water in it, " The problem..or should I say, problems, with that idea are that 1. you have no idea where you are, 2. I've already told both Prides where I last 'saw' you after you faked your death, and 3. I am the one with the supplies to get us across the wastelands, and trust me sweet cakes, I'd mop the den with you in any kind of fight. So...that being said, and you being fed and watered, are you ready to bargain for your life or do I just leave you here trussed and ready for the lions to take possession of you?" Tabia tilted her head, looking at him with shrewd golden eyes.

"Because you see, either way, I still get paid. The only one with anything to lose really, is you," she said in oh-so-reasonable tones.  

[Tanakako]

Scowling darkly at her laugh he snorted at her reply. Damnit, but she was too smart for her own good. When the water came into view he couldn;t help but watch it with an almost desperate expression, and as soon as she put it down, he dived for it, lapping the water up fast enough to actually splash some of it over the floor, as if he were afraid she'd take it away from him before he could drink any.

He finished the entire shell before he looked back up at her, his dark eyes unfriendly. However he wasn't stupid, and he listened to what she said. "Firstly, I did not 'fake my death'.. you did that." growling darkly at her he snorted his contempt and then sneered. "Where are you taking me then?"
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Tabia smiled at him, though it didn't light her kohl lined eyes as she tisked at him, " Ah, but you see my friend, Sanguine trusts me, she's even a little in love with me, and if I tell her you faked your own death...well then... you did." Patting him on the cheek again she refilled his shell with a smile.

" As for where I am taking you, I am taking you back to my Pride. My Queen always has need of such useful males as you have proven to be." Tabia spread a armful of dried rushes around him, " Now, you should sleep some. It is going to be a long trip, and since you are going to be hobbled for most of it, you'll want as much rest as you can get."

Smiling at him, she hopped up onto the shelf he'd fallen off of and settled down with a contented sigh, " Sleep well, Kiss kiss."  

[Tanakako]

"Then she has terrible taste in women." He snarled in reply, shooting her a glare of unfettered hatred. Snarling at her patting again he watched with narrowed eyes when she refilled the shell, but dipped his head and drank most of the water. Finally with his thirst quenched he settled back, his gaze returning to her warily, for he sure as hell didn't trust the female.

Snorting at her comment he turned his back on her and curled up where he lay, ears flat back against his head. He did keep one eye on her as she bedded down for the night, his malice evident in his narrow-eyed stare. But eventually he too was finally forced to settle down and in the wee hours, he drifted into a disturbed sleep.