Will edit this later
Her first thought really shouldn't have been that her fur was ruffled, bloody and matted and that it was not pretty. Yet, that was all that Vinuka'Jio seemed to be able to think of. Later, she might realize that it was because the only other things that she might have thought of at that moment were, simply, far too painful. As it was, the pain of her broken, battered body kept the rational hurt from bearing down upon it; a mixed blessing at best.
Sniffing--or trying to, though one side of her nose refused to work, and the only scent she registered through the other was blood--the lioness raised her head as the heat of the sun finally baked her into roasted awareness. She looked a mess, and had no idea where she was.
There was, through her functioning eye, a sense of a LOT of dirt. Her ears registered a buzzing sound, and Vinuka had to force herself not to paw at her face in order to find out why her other eye didn't want to open. It hurt so much without being touched that the lioness was certain she didn't want to know.
Slowly and shaking, for her sight was still limited in depth and blurry besides, Vinuka attempted to pull herself to her feet. With a rather undignified yelp she took her weight off her left forepaw. It wasn't broken, she thought, but there was at least a sprain.
Lord, limps were certainly unnatractive---and it might be permanent!
Torn x Puppet (8:54:00 PM): Ashiki was being aimless, not that she found much pleasure in being aimless, but this was all she could manage to do on a lazy day in the Outlands. Her paws wandered, led her across the baked soil beneath her feet, and her green eyes settled on the earth before her although they saw and registered very little as she passed.
After a moment, she paused, a scent carried to her on the wind, the scent of a lion mingled with that of sweat and the metallic sting of blood. Curious, as always, the young female made her way (though cautiously) in the direction she suspected this creature to be.
As she came upon the rather roughed up female, a brow quirked. She didn't get too close, for though only a cub, she had already seen smaller creatures get violent when they were injured, and stood her distance out of worry that this female might do the same. She had no wish of being injured.
"Hello there," she called out, tail flickering, head lifting slightly as she narrowed her eyes upon the figure. Was the girl lost? She was willing to bet that she was, given, after all, that she was so beaten and bruised.
Covenmice (9:11:07 PM): Vinuka's body jerked at the sound. She couldn't smell or see properly, and though she could hear that didn't give her much to work off of. As such, the lioness found herself more than a little scared of the wide world around her, and the dangers now in it for an incapacitated lioness. How long before her scent drew something hungry?
Tensing only made her body scream with pain. Though she kept herself from making an actual noise, the expression on her face was obvious. Vinuka turned her head as much as she could, as the girl had approached her blind side, until she could see--and practically melted with relief. A child, nothing dangerous... and perhaps helpful, if there were adults nearby.
"H-hello!" Vinuka managed, her throat harsh, hoarse from screaming, and attempted a smile. She couldn't have known how gastly it was, but her mouth held the mettalic taste of blood. "where have you come from, then?"
Torn x Puppet (9:31:12 PM): Ashiki winced visibly at the sight of the female, but being who she was, she felt no need to hide her slight disgust at the way the female looked. Sure, she felt a little sorry that she had been beaten to a pulp, but that didn't mean she had to pretend she didn't see the horrorific scene before her. Besides, with the female beaten so badly, it was likely she couldn't even see her that well to begin with - she was probably just a dusky rose-colored blob.
"From the pride that claims these lands, although I don't suppose I should expect you to know that, being that you seem to lost," she shrugged her shoulders and dared to take a few steps closer, now that she realized the lioness was more concerned with help that acting irrationaly. "Looks like you had a run-in with a herd of elephants, lady," she said, pushing herself to her tiptoes as she examined the lioness' body.
Covenmice (9:39:17 PM): A pride? well.. that might be helpful, if they didn't object to her presence. And the Gods knew she needed help right then. Attempting not to think of how wretched she looked, and only really wanting some where to lay and die.... Vinuka knew if she actually did that, true death would soon follow and it would be even less pretty than what she was like now.
And, of course, her hearing was actually hindering her life right now, and she couldn't count on hearing the furred death before it caught up to her. Oh wonderful. Well and truely wonderful. "Lost? Yes.. yes, very lost. Could.. I ask you to help me? Just a little ... Perhaps.. back to your pride, if you don't think they'd object?"
Death by lion paws, or death by wild dogs or hyena or even cheetah? she was beyond vulnerable here.
Torn x Puppet (9:52:48 PM): For a moment, Ashiki simply ignored what the lioness was saying. She was caught up examining her, walking closer, in a slow circle around her form, examining the injuries that covered the other's form. Well, she certainly wasn't going to start helping the lioness if she was just going to die on the way back home - what would be the point of wasting all that effort? She wasn't going to drag her there either - she was too small, for one thing, and she didn't really want to attempt something so futile.
"..aalllright," she said slowly with a nod, coming over to the side of the lioness that she had judged was her good side (after all, the other eye didnt seem very open). "Just follow me the best you can and I'll show you back to my pride. Of course, you'll have to ask my sister if you can stay, and I wouldn't know if she'd say yes or not." Which was the truth, most of Sarafina's decisions and reasoning depended on things Ashiki couldn't understand.
Covenmice (9:56:40 PM): Vinuka nodded--slowly. Doing more than that hurt like hell. "Right.. thank you. I would.. just rather not be out here. I'll take my chances with our own kind." There was a risk in approaching any predator, even another lion, of course... but it was preferable to the heathen masses of canine that would prey on her here. With slow, awkward steps Vinuka began to follow Ashiki when she began to lead him along. In an effort not to faint, she continued to talk.
"You're a very nice girl, leading me back like this.. thank you." Vinuka had always like cubs--she'd babysitted her sisters' litters more times than she could count... but that was.... before. No, best to not go there.
Torn x Puppet (10:15:44 PM): Ashiki glanced back at her slowly, took a few very slow steps, and then settled into a decently leisurely pace to make sure that the lioness could keep up. "I understand, I don't think that I'd want to be mauled and killed by a mass of hyenas or something either, which is really likely, given that you're beaten up and all." She shrugged, face rather emotionless as far as it went, finding her words perfectly reasonable. It was a perfectly fine conversation to be having with a lioness that was beaten to a pulp and probably emotional, right?
"I'm just doing my job as a good pride member. If I told my sister that I had seen a strange lioness in the pride and I didn't bring her back, I don't know if she'd be very happy with me," she smiled, glanced over her shoulder, "but you're welcome. I don't suppose I'd really want to leave you out here where you might get hurt worse either."
Covenmice (10:22:48 PM): That was... odd. For a cub, especially, Vinuka thought. Had she been well enough, she may have been taken a-back. Right now, though, she merely logged it away to think about later on.
"The thought.. did cross my mind, yes. I'd rather face my own kind than certain death, after all..." What sort of place was this? She'd been so used to cubs who had no concept that lions were immortal, or else immune to the laws of nature around them. One paw in front of the other, Vinuka reminded herself, one paw in front... "what pride is it? .. I don't... I don't remember where we were.. I thought I did but..."
Torn x Puppet (10:32:02 PM): Ashiki hummed a little as she walked along, further proving that her slightly morbid dip in conversation didn't seem to phase her in the slightest. Likely she'd heard worse, been told worse, or simply imagined worse. It was obvious, at least, that she had no qualms with the current situation.
"Well, I think we all would," she said with a nod of her head, turning to glance over her shoulder as she loped along slowly. It was going to take forever to get back, and the thought made her sigh mentally. Why did injured lionesses have to be so slow? "This is the Outlands," she said proudly, puffing up her chest and lifting her chin.
Covenmice (10:33:30 PM): "out.. lands to what?" Vinuka asked softly. She was having a hard time keeping up even this pace, but she wasn't about to admit that--especially not to a cub.
Torn x Puppet (10:40:54 PM): The cub faltered, pausing to look back at the lions with narrowed eyes, as if she were quite confused. "Just the Outlands, we're just called the Outlands," she made a slight huffing noise, but finally shook her head and with a sigh muttered, "we're near the Pridelands." Then she resumed her pace, though her tail was lashing more irritably than it had been.
Covenmice (10:48:10 PM): Well at least it was near a place she had heard of... that was an odd name though--the Outlands. It didn't matter--it had lions and she needed lions. The girl shook her head, attempting to drag herself a little faster. It was hot.. but night would be far more dangerous for them, and she wasn't certain she'd be able to see at all. And they seemed to be going towards a.... .... an oddly shaped mountain of some kind. "o-oh..."
Awatupa'Viwanja," Corrected a voice nearby. Vinuka stopped, frightened by this new voice, and turned her head about again in an attempt to find its source. Eventually it settled on what she had thought was a rock, but proved to be a red-brown lioness that blended quite well into the rock and sand around them.
"Ashiki.. it seems you've brought us a guest?"
Torn x Puppet (11:02:07 PM): Ashiki halted, her head lowering slightly, shouldes hunching as she heard the voice correct her. The whole name was such a silly mouthfull and it was so much easier to call it the Outlands - of course, she wasn't going to argue with her sister about that. She wasn't stupid. Putting her poised paw back on the ground, she turned, and let her eyes settled upon the female that she hadn't even seen sitting there. "Yes, Sarafina, I meant the Awatupa'Viwanja," she said softly, in an apologetic tone, tail thwapping behind her slowly.
Her eyes shifted as she asked about the female, although she really wouldn't say her sister really ever 'asked' anything. "Yes, uhm, I found her farther out and she asked me if I would show her back to our pride, and I told her she would have to ask you if she could stay but that I would show her back." She turned her eyes back to her sister, watching her, face calm but showing little other emotion. "I didn't think you'd want a strange lioness wandering around.. in the lands." She glanced away from her sisters eyes, to the beaten up lioness, and then back at her paws. Her sister made her nervous.
Covenmice (11:10:49 PM): "Good girl," Sarafina replied. She pulled Ashiki close with an openly claws paw and bent to lap gently at her forehead. It was affectionate in its own way, though she hadn't had as much time with Ashiki as she'd spent with some of her other siblings. It was also, however, a sign that the girl had done well. A few laps and Sarafina straightened and took her paws off the cub. She regarded the stranger.
Through her muted vision, Vinuka regarded the pair of them. This was obviously the sister that Ashiki had mentioned, she guessed that even before Ashiki said as much. Immediatly it was apparant why Ashiki had said she couldn't guess at the older lioness's reaction--there was something... odd about her. Yet, Vinuka couldn't quite place a paw on it. That could easily ahve as much to do with the pain ebbing against her conciousness as anything logical. "Miss I--"
"No, don't bother," Sarafina cut her off. "Who did this to you and why."
That wasn't a question. Despite the curt manner it was.. asked...Vinuka only felt grateful towards the lioness. She wouldn't be wasting energy on stupid, if polite, speeches. Yet.. it forced her to think about the one thing she didn't want to. "... someone that.... i didn't know. A male. He came upon me in the night.." That was as far as she could go without her calmness breaking. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes and closed her jaw with a painful snap.
Torn x Puppet (11:17:19 PM): Ashiki blinked with a bit of startlement as her sister suddenly dragged her close to her, although she simply gave into the motion and didn't try to fight it. Her praise brought a slight smile, a more confident gleam, although she would never be 'bold' in her sister's presence. She sat still during the momentary grooming, head ducked slightly, and once attention was passed from her she straightened and become a good little statue-esque cub at her sister's side.
She sat there, head high, tail curled around her paws, quiet and silent - a miniature of her sister, sitting at her side in silence. However, as she heard the words that passed he female's maw, her eyes narrowed, her jaw tightend, and her face darkened somewhat. She had always assumed she had been attacked by something else, but the way she said it.. it made her angry.
Covenmice (11:23:11 PM): Sarafina wasn't much happier than her smaller sister at hearing this. The emotion and the way the lioness smelled and acted convinced her that she told the truth. There was something about it that was a lie, perhaps, but... she doubted it was anything that important. Possibly the attacker was closer to her than a stranger... which only made it worse. Sarafina gave a slight nod, more of acknowledgement than any sort of agreement. "I see. Well.. you're in no condition to go any further into it than this, that much is certain, so for now ... you have free passage into the main quarters of the pride. When you've had some time to recover, I shall speak with you again and we'll discuss further staying, but I won't shove you out into wilderness wounded."
Vinuka felt a relief wash over her. The words were brisque, harsh even, but very welcome at this point. She was going to be safe, for the moment at least, and that was enough to.. to...
Sarafina gave a cold chuckle as the broken lioness passed out at her feet. Poor thing.. poor, broken little thing. She was a work of art, truely, in her damaged state.
"Ashiki, I don't think you or any of the other cubs should go into the area you found her in for a short time. I'll have Sukari scour it shortly."
Torn x Puppet (11:34:53 PM): Ashiki couldn't help the slight widening of her eyes as the lioness simply passed out where she stood. She had been pleased that her sister was going to let her stay - but she was certainly surprised. She blinked her eyes a few times until they were no longer widened, until she had a better control over her facial features.
"Yes, Sarafina," she said finally, turning her eyes up to look at her sister. She certainly didn't want to get beaten up, and if the male that did this to this lady was out where she found her, then he could find her and do much worse. "Do you want me to go find someone to take her back to a den?" She asked curiously, turning her eyes upon the crumpled lioness, although not moving until her sister told her to.
Covenmice (11:37:03 PM): "That won't be necessary." Sarafina stood and moved to manuever the lioness up onto her own back. A large lioness by birth, and much larger again in comparison to the frail, tiny thing that was Vinuka, she was able to carry her without faltering--though actually settling her up there was a little rough. "I would like you to find Sukari and tell her that I need her. I'll be by the children's den."
Torn x Puppet (11:39:51 PM): Ashiki rose quickly as her sister did, scrambling up to her feet and shadowing her slightly, standing beside her as she maneuvered the lioness onto her back. She didn't try to help - she was little, she couldn't do anything, and if Sara didn't ask that meant she didn't want her to. Ashiki simply nodded at her command, dipping her head to her sister. "Yes Sarafina," she said politely, tail twitching behind her before she began to turn, "we will be there as soon as possible." She took a few steps before breaking into an easy run. On some level, she admired her sister, but on another she was scared shitless of her.
