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"Even better," the vulture said, parting what was left of her lips into a grin. "Dat's probably a smart idea... just lead de ******** around by de nose. Are you up for a roundabout trip to de mountain?" She straightened herself up on the walking stick, lifting her head upwards and picking a random direction.

"I tink Jamal's up de river!" Kaveri raised her voice, pointing upstream.

Kaveri trundled up the river bank, suddenly veering off into the jungle. The ground was starting to slope a bit upwards as she started toward the mountain, which made running a bit of a struggle with her stick. She circled around a stump and the fallen log beside it, bending over and poking her head in the log. "I coulda sworn I saw him here... no, no, he was by a different log. Let's keep looking..."

She circled the mossy clearing once more before ducking into the jungle again. "Dis way!"

Jamal endured the humiliating, yet life-saving procedure of being buried in brush and left to his own devices for now, left in a daze from the blood loss he had suffered. The hasty stitches in the back of his neck were holding okay, but it was hard for him to keep himself clean when he couldn't even move. Jamal wasn't the sort to think about the medical dangers of having such a wound on the back of his neck, but he did know it hurt like a b***h. He ought to have requested some painkillers to be brought back. Or maybe a joint.

At some point during that day, he had passed out completely from exhaustion and from the wound pain.

When he awoke, he was greatly alarmed to hear voices that were certainly not of either women or Billy and his first instinct was to try to shift into a crouch, but he grew frustrated when his body refused to perform a task so simple. His neck twinged painfully when he did manage to rotate his head around to try and peek through his covering, but he couldn't see anyone. All he could do was listen, which he did with a growing sense of elation. They were too far away to see him and apparently so was the other party out looking for him. Excellent...he just might make it out alive!

His stomach rumbled bitterly and Jamal realized he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. This throat was also pinched and dusty-feeling; he desperately wanted something to drink. Unfortunately, he was at the mercy of Antony and Kaveri.

Jamal wasn't sure if Billy was ever coming back or if he even COULD come back.

((That would be fine! biggrin I want to get Jamal back in action.))

The time Jamal spent there, alone in the brush, was almost unbearable. The tiger was going violently anxious with every passing day. Luckily, the pain in his neck never seemed to get any wose; in fact, it was lessing minutely in exchange for his rising fervor for wanting OUT. He hadn't heard noises of anyone passing through in a long while. That was both comforting but also worrying as well; did no one really care he was lying paralyzed on the jungle floor?

By the third evening, he was positively starving and he smelled. Badly. Jamal was wholey embarrassed by the fact he had messed himself during this whole ordeal and wanted nothing more to get up and bathe. Granted, it wasn't exactly his fault, but should anyone actually now show up to help him at this point, well...he'd never be able to look at them straight. The only good thing seemed to be that he was getting prickling sensation in his fingertips and toes and, could, with intense concentration, move his arms. Even with this, however, he couldn't go anywhere. His muscles gave out a lot, even for simple tasks like scratching his chest or rubbing his face. He didn't know if he should be encouraged by the progress but all he could do was wait. He fell back into a restless sleep, his senses hyperactively focused on his surroundings now. Paranoid thoughts started to spawn nitemares and he slept fitfully.

When he did awake, Jamal was HIGHLY pleased to note that it felt like he had 75% of his function back. With some effort, he was able to sit up and brush his coverings away, only doing so after making sure that he was free and clear of anyone in the surrounding area. Even so, it took effort. It also didn't help that his stomach was cramping painfully from a lack of food and his throat was desert dry AND he smelled like pond water, excrement, sweat, blood, and rotting vegitation. His sensitive nose was overwhelmed.

As he clumsily stumbled to his feet, a painful twinge spanned upwards from calves to neck as his muscles settled onto his biped form. He also felt a distinct weakness in his legs and arms, but could only hope it would remedy with time. For now, he needed to get away from here, but even so, he mentally tagged the area into his memory in case he should ever need another place to hide. It was likely there were no cameras here.

It took him a long time to fumble with his shorts button and zipper and after a good deal of hushed swearing and growling, they were removed and kicked off into the bushes again. How disgusting. First order of business, find a river to wash in.

After once more making sure he was safe to move, the tiger man stumbled off towards what he hoped was his 'home', the deepest parts of the forest. If he could get there, he could eat, heal, and hopefully let Antony and Kaveri know he was okay. He also needed to track down Billy, if there was anything left to track down. Jamal was certain the octopus man had to have been caught by now.

Each step was tiring, unsure, and even painful in some aspects. Every few steps, a knee would go out and he would either stagger about until feeling came back to his leg or he'd fall heavily to the ground. He picked himself up quickly in the latter case, afraid that if he lingered too long, he'd be captured.