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 Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:03 pm
Furii blinked in sharp surprise, literally flinching when he lept in front of her, intercepting it without a moment's thought.
No, she realized, it was lots of thought, as she saw him tear at the animal's throat. It was only the sight of brownred blood dripping down his back that snapped Furii out of her frozen shock.
Like hell was that thing going to hurt Kalevi. Like hell.
Silently, Furii moved to Kalevi's side and took a few deep breaths; though seemed as relaxed as ever, her claws were scraping the hot dry ground beneath them and she was coiled to spring.
Which is exactly what she did.
The thing was looking at Kalevi at the moment, but even then the element of 'surprise' only lasted about long enough for Furii to clamp onto the thing's shoulder. Her claws dug into its chest and side, but it was strong. With a snarl, it bucked. Furii held on, but the thing twisted and snapped at her leg and made contact--painful, sharp contact that elicited a yelp from Furii, which was enough of a reason for her to be chucked headlong from its shoulder and onto the stony ground about ten feet away.
Her vision went black for a moment, and a hazy thought formed: I'm not a fighter.
But then she blinked rapidly and another thought took its place, just one word:
Kalevi.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:18 pm
He cursed as Furii sprang in front of him, and bit onto the beast's shoulder. He couldn't get in there now, couldn't get at it without hurting Furii too.
Normally he wouldn't care, normally that wouldn't stop him, no matter who was in the way, even if it had been one of his fellow earth foxes from his old tribe, but now...
A moment later the creature sent Furii flying. He couldn't take his attention off of it to see where she landed, or see if she was even okay: if he took his eyes off the beast for even a second, they would definitely both be dead.
He watched it stagger, slow from blood loss and pain from both its wounds, but still not giving him any openings. Not yet.
He growled lightly in impatience. He wasn't normally an impatient fox, but now wasn't a normal time: Furri was behind him somewhere, injured and probably in need of looking to. He was hurt as well, but he had had worse: he didn't care about that.
Finally, ages (minutes really) an opening presented itself, and he lunged again, this time for the kill. He went for the same wound on its throat, tore at it again, and watched the beast collapse as its blood came spurting out.
Ordinarily, that would be enough to be sure, but this was no ordinary beast: when it was down, he tore its throat out, to be sure. He was taking no chances with a monster of its power and size.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:54 pm
Furii was still dazed when she heard a sound that made all her fur stand on end: the dying gasp of--she hoped--the creature.
"Kalevi..." she groaned, frowning as she tried to convince her limbs to cooperate enough to make sure that Kalevi wasn't the dead one.
"Kalevi." She said again, finally managing to stumble to her feet. Well, three feet. Her fourth, her front left foot, was hovering a few inches above the ground, blood trickling down it, coloring the yellow sand brown where it fell.
She could see now that Kalevi was indeed still standing: panting, and bleeding, but standing. That meant he was alive.
Thank you. Even though she wasn't sure who she was thanking, she started to limp over to him, just to make sure.
"Are you alright?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:58 pm
It came as a relief to him, to hear Furii calling his name from behind him. Kalevi kept his eyes on the monster a few moments longer--to confirm it really had breathed its last--before turning back to face her.
"I'm fine," he replied automatically. Out of habit: he would never admit to weakness in his old tribe--that would only make his enemies (and some of his own people) target him all the more.
"How are you?" he asked, as green eyes scrutinized her front left foot. She wasn't putting any weight on it: was it just twisted? Sprained? Broken? Did she have any other injuries he couldn't see?
He would sort out her injuries, before tending to his own.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:08 pm
"Liar," Furii said, chuckling some. She wasn't actually making a joke, she didn't actually think the situation was funny, but she had to say something. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, she felt like her leg was about to fall off, but all of that paled in comparison to the fact that Kalevi was bleeding.
"I'm fine," she answered, disregarding his question entirely. "We need to get you to a Shaman, look at your back."
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:14 pm
"We need to get you to a shaman," he countered. "I've had worse."
He barely felt his own wounds, the pain covered over by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Furii didn't have that advantage.
"Who's a shaman? I'll go get them. You shouldn't walk with your paw like that: you'll just make it worse." Her condition seemed to be stable, so he didn't have to worry about that, and the best he could do to minimize the damage was to tell her not to walk on her hurt paw. The next and final step that he could do was to get her a shaman.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:46 pm
Furii pouted lightly at his insistance, but she reasoned that after he got the Shaman she could force him to look at Kalevi first.
Sighing heavily, Furii say down at his insistance and started instinctively licking the blood from her paw.
"Just be careful. Don't get attacked by anymore whatever-the-hell-that-was-es on your way, alright?" she joked, offering him a weak smile.
As he turned, Furii couldn't help herself.
"Are you sure you're alright, Kalevi? Don't just say you are, I can tell when you're lying or just pacifying me." She added, doing her best to glare threatenlingly at him.
She doubted that it worked though, since her glare was probably somewhat ruined by the wince of pain that she couldn't quite cover.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:51 pm
"I'm fine," he repeated. It was true, for now. Eventually the adrenaline would leave, and he would crash, but that shouldn't happen until long after he had gotten the shaman and come back.
As a matter of fact, Furii didn't have to talk the shaman into treating Kalevii first: as soon as she saw Kalevi, she set to work on him, and only after she had treated him, did she agree to go to Furii, muttering things about "oh, just a scratch" and "oh, a sprained paw is so deadly" the whole way.
Kalevi didn't try to defend his "backwards priorities" against her: firstly because he knew his limits better than she did, and secondly, because he frankly didn't care what she, or anyone else in the tribe, for that matter (excepting perhaps, just perhaps, Furii) thought.
He had only agreed to treatment in the first place, because the shaman had refused to go see to Furii until he was taken care of.
Once they returned to the other side of the lake, Kalevi laid back down, and watched the shaman start her treatment of Furii (and seeming not to care one whit about the coyote carcas that was still there).
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:02 pm
Furii only let the Shaman examine her leg when she was assured that Kalevi had been seen to; the puncture wound wasn't deep, but it was the sprain that was the real issue. She got instructions to stay off her paw so the bandages would do their job.
After she was done--and her back was turned--Furii managed to limp over to Kalevi to flop down with him.
"Thank you."
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:06 pm
Kalevi half watched Furii and the shaman, somewhat distracted by his own wounds. The adrenaline had faded, and he was definitely starting to feel the cuts on his back now. They'll probably leave scars, he thought.
He also hoped that the herbs the shaman had given him for the pain would kick in soon. While he had indeed had worse, the current pain was by no means enjoyable, either.
He blinked at her in confusion when she came over to him. "For what?"
Maybe the painkilles were starting in now. His mind was starting to feel foggy, at least...
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:16 pm
Furii smiled some and shook her head. "For...defending me. You probably saved my life. Both our lives." She was quiet for a while, examining her paw and leg.
"You were very brave. If your tribe was good for anything, it was good for moments like this." She joked quietly, strands of her red-yellow hair falling over her eyes.
Her heart was still thudding, but all of a sudden she felt like it was for a different reason...but that was probably the painkillers the healer had imbued with the herbs on her leg, soaking their way into her bloodstream.
"So, thank you." She broke the silence and lifted her head, and in one fluid motion she leaned over and licked his cheek...and promptly froze where she was.
What did I just do?
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:22 pm
"It was nothing," he muttered. If he hadn't attacked the coyote, than he would be dead. Simple selfishness, and nothing more.
But still, her telling him that 'if your tribe was good for anything, it was good for moments like this' moved something inside of him. He didn't know what, or how. But he was pretty sure he liked it.
He froze as well when she licked him. This was...different.
And then he went and nuzzled her back.
Which was definitely the fault of the drugs.
Definitely.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:35 pm
Furii felt her breath hitch as his nose touched her cheek; if her fur wasn't deep red, she would've been blushing.
She cleared her throat quietly and met his eyes, which were much, much too close to hers.
"Should we..." she blinked slowly, and found it difficult to swallow. "I mean...that didn't mean anything...right?"
heart heart heart
The next morning, Furii awoke slowly; her mind was fuzzy, but at least the pain in her ankle was much diminished from yesterday.
The next thing she realized was that she was not alone. She was curled up against a warm body, and as she blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes, she realized who it was.
"...Kalevi?" she whispered hushedly, eyes wide with surprise. The first time she had felt his fur, being this close to him and all she felt was pure...
Actually, there was nothing pure about it. She was excited and confused and breathless and confused but...but she was surprisingly comfortable against his side. She half-hoped he stayed asleep just a little longer...
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:43 pm
This time he did continue to sleep through her calling his name: the drugs had certainly seen to that.
It wasn't until some time later, hours after he usually got up, that he finally slowly awoke.
The first thing he became aware of was another body pressed against his. But who? He had no real friends in his tribe, no one he would let come so close to him when he was sleeping...
It was when he opened his eyes, and saw that he was in the desert, did it come rushing back to him: that he had a new tribe now, perhaps even a new life. That yesterday, a coyote had attacked, and then...then, after the shaman had left, it was fuzzy.
He groaned slightly, trying to remember. What had happened next...?
"What happened last night?" he asked Furii, even as he still tried to recall why she was curled up against his side.
He found that he didn't mind, exactly.
But he still wanted to know what they had done.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:52 pm
"You're awake," Furii murmured quietly, not moving away from him but not moving closer either. She was staring fixedly at her paws, for some reason terrified that the peaceful contentment she felt would evaporate as soon as he fully awoke and took stock of the situation.
"I...we..." she began, but she couldn't find the words. "I'm sorry..." she confessed quietly, at a loss for anything else. She didn't even know what she was sorry for since whatever may or may not have happened was completely understandable and there was nothing wrong with it...
...Right?
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