Welcome to Gaia! ::

Another hot day in the savanna. Tikahn wasn't too surprised by it. It was the dry season, and it was living up to its name. This was the second day he'd gone without water, and it was starting to show. His head remained low as he walked, his tail dragging on the ground, leaving a snake-like trail between his paw prints.

The wind changed slightly and the lion lifted his blue eyes slightly. Sniff. Sniff. Water? No...it couldn't be. There was no one around, no plants...but wait! It was there! He lifted his head sharply and looked to his left where the wind was now blowing from. Sure enough, a quick detour to the left found him at a pool of water. No stream fed it, and while on any other occasion he would have known to be careful, he ran right up to the edge and began to drink.

Once he had his fill Tikahn relaxed and let out a slow breath. Ah...that was much better! He felt energized already. Wondering if there was any shade around, he turned to go, but found he couldn't move. Looking down, his heart sank. Sand and dirt had swallowed up his paws halfway up both back and front legs. Quicksand. Of course...

Trying very hard not to move, Tikahn looked around for anything to grab on to, but there was nothing. He was stuck.

Tikahn pulled his tail out of the muck slowly, and it felt very weird, like it was dragging it further down. Finally it broke free, but he found himself a few more inches into the mud, his mane now touching the top of the sand. He swallowed thickly and wondered what he was going to do when a frantic voice reached his ears.

Looking up, he came eye to eye with a pink female, eyes nearly the same shade as his own. She seemed to know what to do, though, and he nodded and held very, very still. "I hear you," he said, his voice very soft, although it was more because he was afraid breathing heavily might make him sink more.

"Do you know what to do to get me out?" he asked, looking back up at the female. He hoped to the gods that she did, otherwise he was a goner, and all of the water in the world wouldn't be able to save him.

Tikahn had to look backwards over his body to spot the tree that the female began to climb. It was unfortunate she wasn't a leopard because it would have gone much smoother. Still, she made it to the top, and he nodded at her plan.

"Yes...I think I can do that," he said, keeping his tail above the mud to keep it from sinking back in. He wiggled his toes and found he could do that, but with an experimental pull he knew that that would only make him sink further.

"Okay...yes, I'm ready," he said, lifting his head again to reach the branch as she pushed it towards him. He'd be incredibly careful around waterholes now that didn't have a river feeding them. There were some that were created from rain collecting, but there hadn't been rain for weeks, so those watering holes were all dried up. Ah...would the water have been worth it if she hadn't been here? Probably not.

Tikahn watched as the tree slowly bent to the female's will, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel his feet sinking a bit more, bringing him just out of reach of the branches, but a little more pushing from the pink lioness and the branch bopped him on the nose. He didn't hesitate to latch on, getting a good grip with his back teeth. He felt the soft wood split just a bit, but once it was done, it held fast.

"Ooay!" he said, his words muffled by the branch. "I gahh ih!" He relaxed his muscles in his legs to he wouldn't stand up, and found the sensation to be like floating in a pool of water. It was so very odd, a combination of sand and water. He would have never thought it would be so deadly! Closing his eyes, he let out a slow breath through his nose to calm his heart. He needed to be calm and cool so he could be pulled out of this thing.

Tikahn closed his eyes and squeezed them shut as Nia began to back off the tree. He could feel his body stretching, the sand pulling him to stay in place, the tree moving the other way. Something cracked - he hoped it was the tree and not him - and a funny suction feeling began to pull at his feet, but in the opposite way that he had felt before. He was moving!

It took all his determination to hold on with his jaws. They were aching and his neck was incredibly stiff, but slowly, inch by inch, he was rising out of the quicksand. Finally one paw came free, and he shook the wet sand off thankfully. It was a back paw, so he began to gingerly feel for solid ground as he continued to be pulled from the trap.

Slowly his paws were freed, and it was with a careful and cautious step that he found solid ground. Once he was on he let go of the branch, panting heavily and moving his jaw to relieve it of some of the pain. "Oh...my gods, it worked!" he said as he stared at the seemingly harmless ground before him, smooth and inviting once again. He turned to Nia and smiled. "Thank you so much, miss. I'm not sure how I'd have made it out without your help."

Tikahn laid down on the ground, panting softly. Phew...that was scary! He closed his eyes just for a moment before the female was beside him again, brushing sand off his fur.

"Tikahn," he said in return, giving her a little smile. "Yes...I was just so thirsty I didn't even think that there would be any danger around here. Thank you so much, again...I know you said I'd do the same and I would but...wow. I'm just very lucky you were there."

He sighed and flopped down again, exhausted from the pulling on his limbs. At least he had gotten some water to drink! "You were very smart to use that tree. I can't climb a tree even if my life depended on it...or someone else's, I suppose. You're a very talented lioness."

He gave her a weak smile, hoping he didn't look too silly laying there like a beached fish. Oh well...he had nearly died, he supposed. He could afford to look a little silly.

"Nia, was it? I'll name my first born girl after you! If I ever have one."