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 Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:49 am
So, Leboya had been a little unwilling, but he'd still gotten her permission. With that, he and Mtembei had set off. Banji had smiled as they walked away from the Pridelands (ignoring the deep, dark frown on his sons face). He was convinced this was the solution to everything! More time with his son was the cure.
The problem?
He couldn't spend time with his son if he didn't know where his son was.
After the first night, while Banji was asleep, the little bra--uh, boy--had taken off. It was frustrating, not to mention scary. This is exactly the scenario Banji had left his sister in so long ago, and he felt a regret and pity like no other for her now. So, this is what it was like.
"Mtembei? Mtembei?" One could only hope he'd gone back to the Pridelands and not taken off completely. He was his son, after all. "Mtembei?" ...What was that? Blood? From where?!
Banji did not have the weakest of senses, but far from the strongest either. He could smell blood, sometimes, he could tell the difference between prey beast or lion, but he'd never been able to tell of which prey beast or lion.
Very much concerned the bloody mess was from his son, he ran faster than his lazy self had run in his entire life toward it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:44 pm
Blood. Blood was all that Nyota could remember. Blood, and-
Her son. Hifadhi. Her son bleeding all over his smooth silver caot, his lifeless body laying there with the black shadow of something lingering over his body.
It was the only image stuck in her mind. She ran, she had at least tried to run, even though her heart screamed at her not to. How could she abandon her son? But the fear consumed her, and all she could do was run. Run for her life, her saftey, from whatever that black mass of shadows was. No, there wasn't anything left for her to do but run.
The lioness was pulling herself on, her body unable to run any longer, but the will to keep running, to hide, was still there. She didn't even notice te thin trail of blood that followed her from her own wounds, the deep gashes that would take much longer the heal then the scraps and scratches. She didn't care, she had run and left her heart behind her, what could she do now?
She felt the creeping tendrils of her insanity coming back. It wanting to consume her, like her fear. Her light was gone, how would she keep herself out of the dark?
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Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:05 am
"Mtem-" Banji froze. A part of him was relieved that it wasn't Mtembei he'd come to find. It was a small, small part. Most of him felt a surge of panic; it wasn't Mtembei, but it was a lion. Lioness.
He couldn't stand seeing females hurt. It had a lot to do with his sister, he assumed, but he'd never stopped to think about it. Emotional pain was horrible. Physical injuries were horrible. But both? Combined? It was too much, and he wasn't sure how this stranger was still alive. She looked awful!
Banji was never one to ask stupid questions. Ones like 'are you okay?' wouldn't come from him, he knew better. Of course she wasn't okay. So instead, he rushed over and in his deep, very soothing voice instead said, "It'll be alright, don't worry. Where's your worst wound?"
Was she even still concious enough to answer him?
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Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:37 pm
The lioness' rose coloured eyes widened when she heard the voice of another. Oh god, oh god....she knew it wasn't the same voice, but still! She had no idea what had attacked her, and what had...killed her son.
Oh gods, he really was dead, wasn't he? Everything she lived for, dead.
She looked into the eyes of a male. Her mind instantly clung to the face that he had a lot of black on him, but there was no possible way that he was the same monster that had attacked her. No, not with that startlingly white mane.
"Ahh, aahh." She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. She didn't know what was her worst wound. She stopped pulling herself, causing her to fall on her belly, as she looked at herself. She was a wreak, one bloody wreak, even if most of the blood had dried. It looked like her shoulder, the one with old scars, was the worst. Though her nose sure hurt as well.
But the worst wound was definately her heart.
"T-there..." she stumbled through the word, her voice sounding detatched from her, not her own. Everything was in a haze, and it almost felt welcoming.
Fight it, her mind told her. Fight it back.
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Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:28 pm
This stranger was small. Smaller than your average lioness. Banji was fairly large. Larger than your average lion. However, bulk did not always equal muscle, and he wished dearly he'd gotten more exercise instead of just lazing around all day, because the only thing he could think to do was...
"I'll carry you," he said. It wasn't an offer, but more like a gentle command. He was more chubby than muscular, but he could still carry such a small lioness he was sure. "There's some water around here." A distance away, but hopefully not too far. If they didn't clean those wounds out they'd get infected, and Banji's mother had shown him first hand what occured when that happened through example...
The dominantly black male shook his head and lowered to the ground best he could, close to Nyota as he could without touching her. Didn't want to accidentally knock into one of her wounds or some such. "Come on, once we start on our way you won't have to move anymore for a while, I promise."
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:04 am
A distinct wet feeling seeped around her eyes, and Nyota realized that she was crying. Out of fear, or pain, she didn't know. But could she really just jump onto this strangers back and assume nothing bad would happen to her? No. But she would probably die out here if she didn't do anything anyway, so what the hell? Nothing really mattered anymore.
The brown lioness didn't say anything, just pulled herself up off of her stomache before stumbling closer to the white-striped lion. The pain was starting to ebb now, but that was probably because she just couldn't feel it anymore; there was too much pain for her mind to comprehend. She paused, gritted her teeth, and pulled herself up onto his back, not using her claws so she slipped a bit before actually making it on him.
A slight shot of fear poked into her mind if he would actually take her to water, but she was so tired, so hazy that she just didn't care anymore. She concentrated more on pushing out the images of Hifadhi lying dead. Thinking about that would only set her off into a terrible fit.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:24 am
Banji had never before had to handle any injuries past a thorn-in-paw sort of thing. He'd heard a few of his children wail a couple of times, but this was...far different from that. Going to water was all he could think to do.
In short, he was clueless.
Should he run? Should he walk? How slow should he go, if he did walk? Was it worse to hurry when she had so many injuries, or would they get infected if he didn't? Eventually, Banji settled into a jogging sort of speed, wishing he had taken one of his daughters on this 'trip', because they were smart like their mother (not like he and Mtembei) and would probably have a better idea of what to do.
He reached the water and, at first, could only hesitate more. How should he do this? "We're going in the water," he gently warned the lioness, then slowly, very slowly, trotted into the swallow end. When he was positive it was swallow enough to not drown her, he carefully edged her into the water.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:34 am
Nyota ground her teeth as the bouncing jabbed at her from everywhere when this stranger began to trot off. Just where was he taking her, at such an uncomfortable speed? She prayed that he didn't mean to do it, telling herself over and over that he ws just helping her, there was no need to freak out, and she could deal with the pain. She had to, if she wanted to survive. She banned the thoughts of Hifadhi from her mind. She would survive, though for what, she didn't know.
Water? Wait, what? Before Nyota was able to react to that, she felt the soothing cool touch of the water wrap around her body. She gasped, not quite ready for just how cool the water was, slowly sliding off of the zebra-coloured lion as the water took her weight off of her. It was much easier to breathe in the water, and everything seemed just a bit more bearable. Some of the looser scabs dissolved off of her, letting some of the wounds bleed out as the blood dissolved into the water. Quickly, though, the bleeding stopped, and Nyota shifted around as she awkwardly kept her head above the water.
"T-thank you.." she said warmly, almost a bit apologetic that the lion had to get himself all wet for her.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:40 am
"Don't worry about it." Banji did not step out of the water, but instead lay down next to her in it. It was hot anyway, he told himself.
Perhaps another lion would have asked what had happened; not on Banji's agenda. He lacked curiousity even in youth, which was a big part of why he knew virtually nothing, and why Leboya was so much smarter than him, and why his daughters who seemed to take after her would be smarter than the son who took after him. If you never asked, you would never learn. Banji very rarely asked.
But he did have a few questions for her. "Do you feel somewhat better now? Is there a place I can take you?" Did she have family somewhere?
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:50 am
Nyota blinked at the stranger, wondering why he didn't ask. Did most ask? But...perhaps it was for the best. She stuck her nose in the water, seeing if the slash that was across the bridge of her nose wanted to clean itself out or not. She raised her head again, water dripping off of her as she looked back at her rescuer.
"I....well, physically I do," she admitted, her eyes averting to look at her reflection in the rippling water. She stared at her face, noticing the marks on the bridge of her nose and on her cheek. It almost felt like she didn't recognize herself, with the scabs. They would surely scar, as would a lot of her deeper cuts. More to add on, perhaps, more that would tie in with bad memories.
"I don't have a place to go." She swallowed hard before continuing. "I've lost my only family, so I'm unsure...." Her tone swung upwards though, as she felt like she had an idea, but she just couldn't quite fish it out of her memory.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:53 am
Banji's first instinct was to invite her to come with he and his son, something that startled him. When had he began to become his sister? Leboya would definately not take it well if she returned the Pridelands with a female tagging along. He couldn't just leave her out here, still...
"Perhaps there is a pride near here you could take refuge in," he offered. The Pridelands were not very close to here, but surely another pride was? "We can look if you like." As of now, he had all the time in the world.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:00 am
Nyota's ears perked up a bit, with that wandering idea finally managed to get picked up by her tongue. She flushed for a moment, though, feeling that the idea was foolish. Her rosey eyes peeked back over at the male, hoping he would accept her request.
"I have heard of a place, a pride, in the Swamps just east of here. Do you...do you think you could guide me there? I fear that the demon that attacked me might return if I am found alone..." It was a chance he'd accept, and besides, he did sort of offer first.
A new place, a new pride...hopefully if she was accepted to join, she could start her life over and let her past be something other then a nightmare. She deserved a good chapter, certainly, after all that she had been through. And the rumors that she had heard from passer bys sounded like this pride held similar beliefs to her own, things that made her family drive her away from her original home.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:08 am
"Of course." Banji breathed in heavy relief. So there was a place to go. To the East no less. He'd planned on heading that way, with Mtembei. ...Hm. Would his son be alright alone? It was perhaps Banji's bad parenting that allowed him to immediatly reason: Yes, he'd be fine. He was his son.
It was only for a short while. He supposed he could go and get the boy, but the sen was already setting and it would be cold soon. Not good for a soaked lioness that just got beat by a 'demon', whatever that meant.
"I was heading that way regardless," he informed Nyota, hoping to ease some of her guilt, should she be feeling any. "It's no problem. However, we should find a place to take shelter in for tonight." He smiled gently. "My name is Banji."
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:18 am
Nyota's ears swiveled forward before settling back on her skull. She really couldn't help it, she barely spent this much time talking with anyone anymore. She shook her head a bit as she pushed just a bit more of her body out of the water. She wasn't quite ready to get out, until this...Banji said so.
"Oh, that's great," she said, feigning happiness. It was good, but she still felt like a burden. "I'm Nyota. It's nice to...nice to meet you, Banji." The name felt odd, but she liked it, just for the fact that it was much more uncommon then her name. Such a dull name, and she wouldn't tell him the rest of it. Being called a 'dark star' was certainly something you didn't just tell everyone you came across.
SHe popped her head up to take a look at the lands around her, trying to see if she could find something that would work as a shelter. She was so used to just sleeping under anything that she wasn't sure just what a proper shelter was, especially for two full grown lions. Even if she was a bit smaller then normal.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:22 am
Banji observed her shortly. "There's a cave not far back that's sized enough." It didn't surprise him she hadn't noticed it on the way here. The pain was blinding he'd imagine. Banji had never been beaten before, so he could only imagine. "Can you walk?"
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