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 Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:15 pm
Vu protected his eyes from the blows with his paws, guarding his vital regions by curling himself into a ball. Blood filled his nostrils. When he tried to take a breath he screamed. He cried out, choked and whimpered, unable to tell where Badieh’s claws were landing. Everything hurt. Blood ran down his face and stained his paws. Some of the blood from his face ran under his paws and filled his eyes. By the time it was over Vu was exhausted. He lay on the ground, still curled in his protective ball, gasping quietly and trembling in pain.
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Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:21 pm
Mollie had bolted at her first chance. More scared than she ever had been in her whole life. She wanted to run all the way home screaming and crying, to get help for her best friend. But it was to far. She was to scared. The only reason she stopped to turn around was because she smelled blood. And that was always a bad sign.
Green eyes looked upon her protector and friend, and widened in horror. Is he dead? That thought circled her head and her fear paralized her where she was. A good distance away, but still close enough to make out who was who. "V.... Vu...?" She managed to squeak out before she swallowed thickly. This was so not good. What did she do? She was too little to do anything to save him.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:25 am
Badieh watched as he curled into a ball, writhed and screamed in pain, it made her feel satisfied, her hate and anger sated, she smirked wickedly and pulled herself away from his form. "Remember this day, you filth, the both of you, you'll remember, I'll mark sure of it," and as she watched the small female nearby, she grinned and ran her claws down his shoulder, deep and hard intending to leave scars for him to remember her by.
He would remember, everyday he saw his wounds.
Pulling away from him, Badieh licked her lips, blood coating her pelt, her father would be proud of her garb. IT was time for her to tell her story to her father, and to leave this one to writhe in pain. This day was good, and this battle, won. In her eyes, Badieh was a queen, and she had proved herself to these filth.
Badieh took off at a run, roaring all the way home. She was coming into adolescence leaving behind the age of innocence, she had come of age, in her eyes.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:22 pm
Gradually the Firekin’s roars faded into the distance. All that remained was the hot sun beating down on him, the sand in his wounds. Mollie would be alright now. She would make it home to her father. His job was done. Now he just needed to make his way back home. Somehow…
He started to lift himself. His limbs shuddered and burned so badly he thought he could feel the Firekin’s claws raking through him still. He spread his legs and stood shakily on the cracked earth slowly turning brown and soft with his blood. Blood streamed into his mouth and stuck to his chin. As he tried to lick his face he whimpered with horror and pain. His muzzle was tattered, lips ripped and nose torn. Water blurred his vision. He looked down at himself, shuddering with fear: wrists clawed, shoulder slashed, neck cut and sides sliced. He fell awkwardly onto his rump, stricken by his sudden disfigurement. Were these wounds fatal? Even if he lived, would his mother recognize him with his face all torn? Who could stand to look at him now with his face all ravaged?
Vu shuddered and let out a horse cry. Pain was one thing, but the price he paid for saving Mollie was worse than he ever imagined. He felt violated by those claws. Now he wished she had blinded him instead. Even that would have been better than taking away his face.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:32 pm
As the Firekin female took her leave, mousey Mollie crept up close again, moving over to Vu while looking all around her to make sure nothing else would be coming this way to harm them. Upon seeing the fresh cuts and blood, Mollie's stomach churned a little and her ears went flat, tail tucked. "I..." Speech left her as she laid down next to him, eyes watering slowly as she tried to lick the blood off his fur, but not touching the scratches yet.
Stupid female. She'd pay for this. Molemogi was going to kill that stupid black Firekin female. But still. The one prominent thought in her head was that this was her fault. If it hadn't been for her, and wanting to go find her mother, Vu would still be happy and not bleeding so bad.
The taste of blood was bitter on her tongue, bile rose up, but she wouldn't let anything happen. Mollie moved to his face, careful of the cuts, licking what blood she could as if she could heal him just like this. They needed a healer; an adult for this job. She was to little.
"I couldn't...." She sniffled a little and shook her head. "I'm..... This is my fault..." she whispered harshly as she moved to gently lick the actual wounds on his muzzle and nose. Mollie knew it would hurt, but she also felt it would help. Shifting to the cuts on his back, she intended to clean every one of them until he was clean and stopped bleeding.
What started as a good day, quickly turned to hell with one encounter and her own stupidity.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:46 pm
When Mollie came near Vu tried to cover his face with his paw. His shoulder hurt so bad, he eventually lowered his arm to relax the sting and see what Mollie was doing with his chest. Sitting completely still except for the occasional twinge of pain, he watched her try to clean every inch of him of blood until she came to his face. She cleaned the wounds with unflinching motherly care. He shuddered, a whimper escaping his tattered maw, and licked her muzzle in gratitude.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:50 pm
Motherly she might look like, but no where close. It was her fault her friend would be scared the rest of his life, and she intended to find a way to protect him one day. Just like he did her. When he licked her muzzle, she sniffed a bit and managed the weakest smile of her life; tiny, weak, broken. "Just... stay here.. I'll watch, 'kay?" she whispered softly, moving to his neck, wanting him clean.
The way she did it almost seemed as if she could erase these scars and make him perfect again. It wasn't working like she wanted it too. She had to get him to shelter before nightfall, least the hyenas come out and pick him apart. Two cubs were nothing against a pack of hyenas.
"I'll get us back to where we slept... somehow..."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 1:10 pm
Vu groomed her weakly as she cleaned his neck. He felt so relieved to see her alive and know that she still cared about him as his friend in spite of his ravaged appearance that he started to purr, but it was a bitter sweet sound. He didn’t know if he could climb a tree with his shoulder. He would have to try.
“I… I think… I can m-make it.” His face stung when he tried to speak and his throat was dry from fighting, weakening his voice. He stood slowly and tried to take a step. His ears flattened and he grit his teeth as he put his foot down again, feeling the sting in his wrist, but he could tolerate the pain. He felt afraid that something was broken. There was no way to tell, but as long as he was able to walk he knew he needed to get out of the open. No one was going to rescue them this far from the Pridelands.
He fixed his gaze on the horizon. The familiar spire of Pride Rock rose above the earth, looking farther away than ever.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 1:14 pm
When he rose, Mollie rose, to help him as much as she could. She helped him stay up as best as she could and walked slowly with him. The Pridelands were out of the questions right now, but shelter wasn't. As long as they could bet back to the safety of the trees.
"It's not to far," she murmured, trying to raise his spirits even a little bit. It was true, though. The tree lining wasn't that far off, and she'd curl up at the first tree they got too. "Then you can lay down... and I'll get you a huge leaf filled with water... You'll... You'll be ok.."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 2:05 pm
They had only gone a short ways before the wounds on Vu’s shoulder and paws started to open again, leaving bloody paw prints in his wake. He shook his head vigorously to dislodge the flies taking up residence on his tattered muzzle. Legendary warriors never had these problems. “M-Mrost… will give me… strength,” he whispered with conviction. He hopped he impressed his God with his endurance during the fight.
Then his spirit sank. Would his father be proud? Of course he would be angry with Vu for putting himself in danger. Once he got over that, maybe he would see how bravely he had fought before resorting to self-sacrifice to save Mollie. No. He could not tell his father the truth. Ghilt would think he was weak for lying down like that.
He shook his head again, ridding himself of the flies with a growl. Clearly, his troubles ran deeper than they appeared.
He would never let anyone beat him again. Never.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 2:16 pm
She wished she could help with the flies, but there was little she could do. Frowning a little bit, Molemogi frowned and then pressed against his good side for more support.
It wasn't long before she got him to some kind of shelter. Frowning a little bit, she moved a head of him to make the deep roots in the tree more suitable and comfortable for Vu. She stuffed more leaves in it, making sure to get as many twigs out as she could and then laid down first, motioning him over to rest against her. She'd try to close his shoulder wounds again, try her hardest. She wanted him better more than anything in this world right now.
"Come get.. get comfortable..."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 2:45 pm
While Mollie prepared a bed for him, Vu sat by himself and focused on licking his wounds. They needed to get up into the tree soon. If they lingered too long on the ground the smell of blood would attract hyenas. Vu knew he was in no condition to defend Mollie from another attack, let alone defend himself. He rose stiffly and lay down in the cozy brush. “Just for… a…. a little while… W-we have to… get off… the ground.”
He gazed up into the branches, wondering if he could really make it up there. One way or another he would have to find a way of defying gravity. Staying on the ground through the night was simply not an option.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 3:28 pm
She shook her head and licked at his shoulders again, whimpering softly. "We can't... Not with you like this," she whispered softly, swallowing again. She couldn't lift him up to the branches, and he was to hurt to climb by himself. Molemogi tried to think of a way to get them to better shelter, but she couldn't. This was the best she knew how to do.
"This is OK, right? I mean.... They won't come for us..." she said, trying to keep her voice calm and certain. "Because I'll fight them if they do. I can do it. I'm going to protect you now. It's my fault you're like this, and I'm going to make sure you're going to be OK. It'll be my fight..."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 3:56 pm
Vu shook his head. It hurt so much to talk, he wished he could explain better. Was this how Mollie felt all the time?
Maybe there was another way for them to be safe without climbing into the tree. Stubborn as he was, Vu knew he would never be able to climb that tree by himself. On the ground they didn’t stand a chance. Mollie was too small to fight off a hyena. Vu learned the lesson of size today and it was one he would not soon forget. Mollie might be able to run away if they were attacked by something. At least there was that. Even if they somehow managed to get into the tree there were leopards to worry about. Vu didn’t expect a leopard to take pity on them just for being feline. The Firekin hadn’t showed them any pity. He closed his eyes and thought hard.
Now Vu never thought of himself as an intelligent lion. Intelligence was not a compliment he was ever paid. Other cubs his age called him a big dumb idiot, rude, rambunctious, a bully. But Vu was intelligent. He simply made the mistake of believing his conclusions were obvious ones. Had he been encouraged to exercise his mind more often than his muscles he would have grown up to be a different lion. He would have probably kept Mollie at home.
The possibility of becoming this alternate-lion escaped Vu. He was trapped in his station and would remain forever trapped, the chance to reach his full intellectual potential taken by the choices he made and by the influence of his parents. But he would always have that fragment of a strategist within him.
Thinking back to the beginning of their misadventure, he remembered crawling into a crevice under some rocks in the Pridelands. They slept there so they wouldn’t be spotted by some meddling adult. “Can you d-dig a hole… under the tree? A… a little hole… s-so only we can get in? A p-place to h-hide?”
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:04 pm
Dig a hole? She could do that. But she was trying to see the logic behind it. Well, there it was. They'd be safe. Hyena's wouldn't get to them, and she could bite and claw at any paws sticking in. Most predators didn't like to dig anyway, right? Thinking for a minute, she nodded and turned to lick his muzzle carefully before nuzzling his good cheek.
Then she got up and shifted around, starting to dig next to Vu. She was thankful the tree roots were big enough for her to do that. She didn't use just her front paws, she used her back ones as well.
It took her a long time, but she got it big enough for Vu to fit in, but nothing else. Even then, she could put some dirt up around the inside of the hole to shrink it further. Slipping back inside for the last time, she cleared them a spot in the damp, dark cave and then made a noise for Vu to get it.
Mollie dug at an angle, so if anyone looked in, they'd have a hard time seeing them. She was dirty, but cool and so tired already. She knew Vu had to want to go to sleep already, so she curled up near the back she could use her as a pillow if he wanted. She didn't mind at all. "Come on, Vu... It's ready now..."
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