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 Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 12:29 pm
 The lion almost looked like a dead thing. He was sprawled on the ground like a big orange rug. A rug in desperate need of cleaning it seemed. His fur was dusty and could use a grooming or two, and blood matted the fur on one hind leg. A cloud of flies hovered around the small wound, but Blota didn't do much about it.
Blota had left his disease ridden homeland, but some part of him was still there. Skadi had kept his promise, and she made sure the two of them survived. He ate when she prompted him to, he moved to keep up with her, he stared at the stars at night instead of sleeping. Just going through the motions. And right now, he didn't even do that. She was hunting and scouting ahead, but he had snagged one hind leg on a thorny bush. It wasn't a deadly wound (not that he cared) but Skadi had deemed it best if he rested for a day.
He sighed and flicked his tail half-heartedly. The flies dispersed for a heartbeat, but were soon back again.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:08 pm
Needing to hunt when already weak had almost killed her. At many points, Zrathi had found herself at the feet of prides and groups of rogues who had saved their life. It would seem she was failing entirely as trethtook.
But Fluess had come along, a monger for adventure, and was delighted with the opportunity to explore. Always the herbivore, she had taught Zrathi about these strange plants south of her homeland, and that you could eat some to replenish enough energy to give you an edge in the hunt. It had saved her life before.
Needless to say, while Fluess mostly thrived, Zrathi looked worse from wear. Heavy pits had developed under her eyes from listening to the hyenas howl at night; her coat had begun to mat and stick; and her ribs poked out where they could. But she still retained enough muscle to function, and she clutched the medicine bag in her mouth like a life force.
While repeating that the feeling of hunger was just that, only a feeling and it could be worked through, Zrathi found the thing she'd been searching for. Or rather, one of the many things it was her duty to search for.
Zrathi ducked underneath a how hanging branch, opening her eyes as the leaves brushed past her skull. A bright orange blob in the shape of a lion appeared to her suddenly, and Zrathi came to a stop, leaf on her head. Many lions had been less than friendly: food thieves, rapists, those driven crazy by loneliness. An alone lion was never a good sign.
"Greetings," she offered, voice betraying her nervousness and body ready to run. Fluess, feeling the tension in the air hung back by Zrathi's hind paws.Annchen (( Thanks for the heads up; i'll keep it in mind! And yes, Sitheka grew up super handsome. Ecavi did a good job on him! ))
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 1:10 pm
At first the orange lion didn't move, and when he did he turned his head slowly. A lioness. It was bad to show weakness to other lions, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. For a moment he played with the thought of being attacked, perhaps even killed. Skadi would be sad, but not for very long, and she'd probably do better without him. He knew he was a burden, but he didn't know what to do about it. Everything took so much effort, and he had a hard time finding the energy to do more than going through the motions. Not look too sad since that upset Skadi. Walk. Talk. Oh...
"Oh, hello," he said. Basic manners - check. More than that? Not today. The lioness didn't look like she would maul him. He had started to evaluate her coat colour without thinking. Old habits die hard, even if coat colours seemed to be less useful out here. Perhaps the spirits spoke truer in his old homeland, or perhaps it was easier to grow up becoming what everyone around you expected.
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:16 pm
Annchen (( Longest delay evar. ))
Her eyes traveled to the flies, gathering on his leg. What little blood there was had mostly dried. Even a small wound could have potential consequences, or so her father had told her.
Zrathi carefully emerged from the tree. Fluess kept to the undergrowth and remained out of sight.
"You look like you could use treatment." The spotted lioness spoke slowly and moved slowly. Her eyes rotated in their sockets to focus on the injury.
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Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:44 am
She looked like a potential Sacrifice when he just saw her head, but as she emerged from the tree he noticed that she did had dark colours on her pelt too. Perhaps not a very young spirit after all... But it didn't matter. The spirits had abandoned them and his old pride was gone. Who was he trying to fool, looking for what had once been normal? He sighed. He kept watching the lioness, mostly because it would take effort to reposition his body again. His eyes weren't very alert, and he looked nothing like a wild animal should when confronted with another large predator.
"I suppose," he said, and a hint of guilt replaced the listlessness in his eyes. Skadi had said something about cleaning his wound. He hadn't really listened, but he might have given her the impression that he'd handle it while she was away. Blota wondered if she'd be disappointed to find him in nearly the same position she had left him. She would be better off without him.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:51 am
I suppose.
Zrathi's head raised slightly and there was a falter in her step. The lioness swallowed, reminding herself that this was her purpose and fear would only make those she was trying to help more apprehensive.
Stay calm.
The lioness' mouth split into an awkward smile that was meant to be comforting. It was likely to make someone queasy to see.
"I'm here to help," she tried, though Zrathi imagined it far less soothing than her father's voice. A small quiver of fear went down her spine when they were close enough that, even with an injured leg, the orange-pelted male could turn Zrathi's face into slivers. No matter how many times she came across males, the sheer size difference never ceased to make her wary.
"It looks superficial," she spoke out-loud, distastefully aware of the hovering silence which crept in every time she closed her mouth.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:23 pm
Blota had spent his fair share of time being afraid in his life, but he had never considered that he might scare someone. He didn't connect the slight hint of fear in the air with the female. He registered it on an unconscious level, but couldn't bother to analyze or act on it. He didn't react to the smile, but his ears moved when she spoke.
"Thorns," he said. "I guess I wasn't looking..."
Even forming complete sentences was too much effort. The wound wasn't that bad, but Blota had the appearance of a much sicker animal. His pelt was matted and dull from lack of grooming, and his eyes were neither bright nor attentive. He hadn't lost his will to live, not completely, but there were few things he cared about at the moment.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:54 pm
"Oh." The lioness nodded her head, once, slowly, before tipping it to the side. Looking at it with the new information, the cause of the wound seemed obvious.
Wrinkling her nose, she blew away some of the flies that had begun to surround it. The medicine in her bag would do her no good for a wound this small. It must have happened recently, because there were no signs of scabbing over.
"Can you walk?" she decided to try. "The wound should be cleaned."
Certainly, he should be able to, if this was his only injury. Zrathi had a tingling fear in the back of her throat that he may be hiding something on his felled side.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:14 pm
Blota turned his head sharply as she blew on his wound. It didn't hurt, but it had surprised him. He'd ignored the crawling flies for so long that he didn't draw the obvious conclusion that she'd just tried to remove some. Perhaps she interacted with the spirits somehow, when she did that.
"Can you heal it just by blowing on it?" he asked, with a spark of curiosity showing in his eyes. It wouldn't have been the strangest practice he'd come across. When one believed in Spirits, all kinds of things made sense.
He sighed, but rose when she asked if he could walk. Sure, he could walk if he had to. The wound tingled a little, and he couldn't shake the feeling that she had done something to it. He ended up just standing there, looking miserable, since he wasn't sure if she wanted him to walk in any particular direction. He seemed to make a mental shrug and walked a few paces before turning and walking towards her again.
"Yeah, I can walk." he said, "Is it supposed to tingle?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 7:32 am
"No," blurted out of Zrathi's mouth.
The lionesses eyes widened briefly and her gaze dropped to the ground, wandering the pebbles and the stray tufts of plant matter. When she looked at Blota again, the muscles of her face had gone taught.
"That's very bad."
The lioness closed her eyes, mouth moving with the words in her head. Without opening them, she spoke again, slowly and carefully.
"Do you feel any pain in your jaw? Or any trouble with your eyes?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:49 am
"No."There was more to it then. Blota still believed that she had done something to him when she blew on the wound, but perhaps he shouldn't pry... In the world he had grown up in there were always more than met the eye. Signs to interpret. Spirits to talk to. It was harder for him to believe that she had done what she did just to scatter the flies than to think that it must have some deeper mystical meaning.
Her next words startled him a little, but her silent incantations seemed appropriate. He tested his jaw, opening it wide and showing a set of intact teeth. He was young (and lucky) enough to have avoided teeth issues so far.
"No," he said after closing his maw again, "I don't know."
Zrathi had made the rookie mistake of asking many questions at once, and it wasn't clear which one Blota was answering.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:34 pm
The second rookie mistake Zrathi made was assuming that her patient had answered both questions in order.
His jaw did not hurt. He was uncertain if he had pain in his eyes. Unfortunately, this told Zrathi nothing concrete on the male's state of health.
Wavering for a moment, the lioness moved to keep pace with the larger animal. The jungle made it hard to keep necessary distance between them, but Zrathi deftly worked her way over roots and plants to maintain space as they walked.
"Have you lived in the jungle long?" Zrathi initiated small talk, though one ear remained trained on their surroundings.
She was listening for a spring she'd passed by earlier.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:41 pm
Blota seemed content to be herded through the jungle by the female. If Skadi came back she'd just follow their scents. She'd understand once she met this female. She had some kind of connection to the spirits, Skadi would see it too. He didn't even know her name, but perhaps it wasn't important right now.
"My home is gone," he said flatly, "We were just passing through here. Not sure where we're going..."
He stumbled on a root, but found his footing. His home was dead, yet somehow he was still alive. Why was that? What was the point?
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:48 am
Nothing could have prepared Zrathi for the words. They struck the lioness dumbly silent. While her ears were still rotating, feet still walking, Zrathi was having a brief, out-of-body experience.
It was hard to choke down the desire to ask what happened? But the way in which the lion had informed her warned Zrathi not to press.
"I'm sorry," she said instinctively, instead. It took a lot of internal whispering to remind herself she was here to deal with his leg, not his entire life story. Unfortunately, she did a poor job of taking her own advice.
"Where was home?"
Zrathi was straining to hear the sound of that water source now. Anything that would give her a distraction. Had it really been this far into the jungle?
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 4:25 am
Blota walked in silence. There was not much to say in response to 'I'm sorry', and he had to think for a while before answering her question. He wasn't sure where they were, or what direction they had come. He had followed Skadi where she told him they should go, blinded by his own dysphoria. The orange lion couldn't have offered the location of, or even direction to his old homeland.
"Mizimu'Tungika," he finally said. Mizimu'Tungica was home, only now it wasn't anymore. "I was always told the spirits were on our side, but they turned on us. I was just a follower, I wish I could have helped somehow."
The sudden tirade about spirits might not make sense to the lioness at all, but he needed to get it off his chest.
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