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 Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:17 am
She had dropped where she had fallen.
Roho was hurt, hurt badly. The white of her fur was nearly impossible to see under the blood that had caked her body. Everything was injured, everything hurt, and everything was over. Ruined.
The lioness had done her best to clean the wounds she could reach, but they hurt, hurt so badly. At first she had remained optimistic. She had been wounded before but she always bounced back. As time passed, however, she grew increasingly worried - something very uncommon for her. At that point, she had begun to wonder whether she'd ever even walk again... or if she'd live.
Her lips curled into a wry smile. Killed by a pacifist. Of course it would happen to her.
Now her only hope now was that one of the patrols would find her. She couldn't get home by herself; she was too weak. Weak. It was disgusting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:46 am
Uovu pulled himself forward, his own energy sapping with each heavy step. He was still bleeding, although it had greatly eased as he had made his way slowly across the rugged Southlands terrain, drying together mats and clumps of his now very crimson, sticky fur. The scabbing would be uncomfortable tomorrow, and he dreaded the thought of it, clenching his teeth.
His own senses were now blurred - it was strange, he thought, how heightened they'd seemed to be during battle. Now, everything was in a mess, and he was struggling to walk, fighting against the pain so as not to appear wounded. And Kiwi had wounded more than his physical body, that was for sure. The way that Kiwi had dismissed Uovu had a massive impact - Uovu shook his head at himself. He'd completely lost it - swearing and spitting, while Kiwi had regained composure.
"I have the guts to kill - every predator does. The different between you and I is that I choose not to."
Choice...
He grunted, and shook the words from his head. Kiwi was the enemy, and a coward in Uovu's eyes. What would he, who could not even save his own son, know about life?
Limping slightly, he pressed meekly onwards, tail tucked defeatedly between his legs. It was not until a light breeze lifted his mane that he realised that the scent of Roho's blood on the air was strong. She had come this way.
Uovu sped up a little, reopening some of his smaller wounds as he hurried forward. He had not mentally prepared himself well enough for the sight he was about to see.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:45 am
"Damn you, Uovu!"
There was a look of anger in her eyes that proved Kiwi was right - Roho was not one to look at her own failures when criticizing the failures of others. She had been defeated by Kiwi, but that did not stop her from bristling in anger at the fact Uovu had been, too.
"So he got you too, huh? Figures." There was still a bit of disdain in her voice but her anger had died away as quickly as it had come. She was in a desperate place, though she did not want to admit it, and Uovu might be her only hope.
Roho shifted uncomfortable, every inch of her body sticky with blood and aching. "It's all over, isn't it? Time committed, time wasted. The furball got away and the idiot learned to raise a claw. And I lost two of my cubs in the process." The thought still infuriated her but she kept it under control - for the time being, at least.
"What now?" For the very first time, there was a hint of desperation in her voice.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:16 am
It was odd, extremely odd. Seeing Roho so brutally wounded, utterly defeated both in body and spirit... the horror gripped Uovu so hard that he could not bring himself to look away. It was an all too familiar feeling - countless times, Uovu had laid eyes on fleshy masses of prey meat, so he was used to the blood. But a horrible fascination made his eyes lock with his leader's - how could this be the same Roho that, only moments ago, had stood before him with such strength, with such promise, that she had drunken an entire pride's minds with images of grandeur and supremacy. Now, Uovu's main influence, his Lord and great leader, lay crippled before his very eyes, desperate and shaken.
"So he got you, too?"
So her tongue was still as sharp as always. Not everything had been lost to the great white lion, it seemed, and for this Uovu was strangely grateful. If the situation had not been so grave, he would have felt a small pang of relief.
"He had a way with words, it seems," Uovu muttered darkly, "Evenly matched. Neither lion... the winner."
Yet somehow, a feeling of loss seized Uovu's throat. He felt the discomfort, the grief, and understood Roho's frustrations as if they were his own. It was like an itch that he could not scratch.
But still, even after all this, Uovu knew that it would not end here. He would not let it end. Not ever.
"As long as we both live... no, as long as you live, Lord Roho," he growled, a new confidence drowning out what was left of his guilt at failing, "The Tononeka will continue to thrive. The Pridelander has done nothing but beat us about the ears. Roho, forgive me if I'm wrong, but since when was this pride centered around Kiwi?"
Now, his heart was beating fast, and his tongue was moving along with it. He no longer spoke words from his head - rage at the situation forced harsh, loud words from Uovu's lips. Suddenly, he lost his composure.
"Damn it, don't give me, 'it's all over'! Don't you dare! Aren't you Hodari'Roho? Or have you given up all hope after having one bloody bad day?" Uovu's words shook, "We've both blooming failed, haven't we, Roho? But we still hold our pride. And the Tononeka will go on. Like hell it's over, like hell it is..."
And then he was silent, biting his lip in deep regret. For the first time, Uovu was glad that Roho was seriously injured. Otherwise, he figured, he wouldn't have survived to see the end of the day.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:07 pm
A soft growl came from the lioness at his outburst. For a moment, the rage came back, and she felt the strongest urge to leap out and strike him. But, once again, it subsided quickly, and she sank back, looking away from him. Roho could feel her wounds but thankfully not see them; the damage done by Kiwi to Uovu was all too obvious, and it made her sick to her stomach to see.
"Perhaps," she said, narrowing her eyes.
What now? Roho didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure she had the strength to get back home, and wasn't sure that Uovu had enough strength left to help himself and her as well. Suddenly she longed for her den, the familiar nest of grass, the warmth, the comfort. In desperation she pulled herself to her paws faster than she should have, which resulting in a low moan of pain. The lioness reclined to her haunches, stubbornly refusing to lie down again. Truthfully, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get up if she did.
"We... we need to get home."
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:06 am
"We do."
Uovu completely agreed. Home. The camp. There was no place on Earth that, at this moment, Uovu wished to be standing in more. His main concern was how both he and Roho could both get there safely. His own muscles ached, and the gashes in his sides stung. He knew that he was not built to carry such a lioness on his back - and while it was true that Roho was small, it was no lie that Uovu was as lanky as they could come. Yet, he couldn't possibly drag her... she'd bleed to death, wouldn't she? Both Uovu and Roho's strength were dwindling, the two becoming weaker as time passed. There seemed to be no hope, just a horrible, cold void of hopelessness stretched out in front of them.
For a fleeting second, Uovu contemplated leaving his master alone to die. Guilt wrenched at his heart, and he shook the thought from his head, angry at himself. No, surely there was a simpler solution. With determined eyes, he turned to Roho and leant down to speak words that only she could hear.
"Do you wish for me to send for help?" he whispered, ashamed that he could ask this of such a vicious and strong lioness as Hodari'Roho, "I'd return, of course."
He tried not to let doubt contort his voice. He thanked his skill for masking his true emotions. Of course, he intended to return to her...
Didn't he?
"Alternatively, we can make our own way back."
... But can you last that long?'
He didn't dare ask something so grim.
"I could try to carry you. Or perhaps, I could... perhaps, Katavi..."
He held himself back. Perhaps he was saying too much. But he felt so utterly hopeless.
And, unknown to Uovu, the hardships were far from over. Perhaps it were the way of the world... everything that could go wrong, would go wrong.
What an exciting life they led.
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