It was raining – which normally wasn't much of a problem in this area but you know how the saying goes..when it rains it pours and that certainly seemed to be true today Haraka thought to himself as he shook out his damp mane and grimaced at the mud which splattered his coat. It was going to make hunting a bit more troublesome then normal, visibility was down and while that went both ways – the prey would have that problem as well – the ground was also slick his paws simply did not deal with it as well as some of the hooved animals out there. Ah well such was the way of life he supposed and the chocolate brown lion trudged on, following the winding path of what had only a week or so before been a dried out stream bed but which was now a rather roaring torrent of swirling water.
It was amidst this swirling water that Haraka suddenly thought he saw a peculiar shape, red with black stripes and a lighter undertone. At first he thought it might be the drowned body of an antelope and was cheered by the thought of an easy meal – hey, he wasn't above scavenging when it was necessary! But upon closer inspection he saw that it wasn't the body of an antelope at all but of a pretty striped lioness. Concerned now the brown lion ran forward and quickly made his way down the slippery bank being careful not to slide into the water himself and raced along the bank as the limp lioness swirled along in the water. He couldn't tell if she was still alive or if he had seen her too late – but he knew if nothing else he had to try and see if he could fetch her from the water. No one deserved to simply be swept away like that.
Catching up with the floating form he saw she was far to far out for him to reach from the bank but up ahead there was a fallen tree and getting an idea the lion surged forward, rushing ahead to make his way carefully out along the slippery trunk, digging his claws into the back he reached in was a paw to try and snag the lioness as she went by. Haraka slipped slightly as her weight threatened to pull him in with her but grunting and bracing himself he managed to hang on to both the tree and the lioness. Pulling her back to shore proved to be an adventure and a half and more then once Haraka was sure that he would be joining the soggy lioness in her fate but after what seemed like hours but was likely only a few minutes the floating lioness hit the shallows and Haraka jumped from the log to grab her by the scruff and drag her out the rest of the way. He pulled her a good bit up onto the shore, under a slight overhang where they were protected a little from the weather and then turned his attention to her condition.
It did not seem like she was breathing but having been in the water Haraka had been prepared for that and using one of his rather large paws he pushed and patted her on the back and ribs until she started hacking and coughing up the water in her lungs...it had been a long shot he knew, there had been a very good chance that he had rescued her to late but when she started to come around the chocolate lion breathed a silent prayer of thanks to whatever gods or goddesses might be in the area to hear him.
Aliwaza sputtered and coughed, rolling onto her stomach to wretch up a myriad of nasty tasting river water before opening her eyes to see how she had gotten onto the banks, perhaps she had merely gotten lucky and washed ashore before it was too late but recalling her own desperate attempt to make for the shore when the flash flood had struck the lioness was pretty sure that wasn't what had happened. And indeed it seemed like she was right because a rather blurry form revealed itself as she managed to focus on the world around her once more a lion she thought though she couldn't be entirely certain. “Whaa...what happened?” She croaked, voice hoarse and painful from the retching earlier. Even that much effort seemed to be a bit to much for the lioness however because nearly as soon as she finished speaking her eyes closed and she lapsed back into unconsciousness.
“well I was hoping you might be able to tell me that” Haraka remarked even as he noticed the lioness going under again. “But no matter...I expect you'll be in a bit better condition to share after some rest” He told her kindly, pulling her further into the more protected overhang. He couldn't just leave her here he knew but staying would certainly mean he wouldn't be hunting anytime soon and by gosh he really was hungry..perhaps a small exploration in the general area would provide some small prey and the lioness he told himself might like a bite to eat when she woke up again. It was obvious by her exhaustion that she must have struggled and fought in the water for a good long time before succumbing and he was glad he had seen her before it was too late.
His mind made up Haraka slipped from the overhang and after making sure that the lioness was as protected as he could make her set off to look for something to eat. A quick search in the area provided him with a rabbit den and after a bit of work the lion returned with two rabbits in tow, one he ate for himself but the other he saved for the lioness. It was a small meal but surely better then nothing and once he was sure the lioness had recovered enough he could always go after something bigger – maybe the blasted rain would even stop by then. But in the meantime...he just had to wait for her to wake up.
WC - 1040
